Surrey council area

Selling Land in Runnymede

Runnymede's housing delivery result of 94% looks respectable, yet the council's own September 2025 statement found under three years of housing land. In a borough that is about three quarters Green Belt, with the Thames floodplain along its eastern edge, that shortfall is the fact a landowner most needs to know.

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Runnymede in Brief

Runnymede Borough Council covers the towns of Addlestone, Chertsey and Egham, the villages of Englefield Green, Virginia Water, Ottershaw, New Haw, Woodham and Thorpe, and Longcross Garden Village. Its 2030 Local Plan describes a borough twenty miles from central London at the junction of the M25 and M3, served by six railway stations, and names the Thames along its eastern boundary, the Basingstoke Canal to the south east, and the Wey and the Addlestone and Chertsey Bournes running through Addlestone and Chertsey.

Mostly Green Belt. The council's September 2026 scoping document puts the Green Belt at 74% of the borough.
Much of it floodplain. The 2030 Local Plan records about 30% of the borough in Flood Zones 2 and 3.
A delivery result of 94%. In the Housing Delivery Test 2025 that means an action plan, but no buffer and no presumed unmet need.
Short of housing land. The September 2025 statement calculated 2.89 years of supply.
A plan from 2020. The Runnymede 2030 Local Plan was adopted in July 2020, and the council accepts its policies are now more than five years old.
West Surrey from April 2027. Runnymede will join Guildford, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Waverley and Woking in one unitary council.

The 2030 Local Plan itself described approximately 79% of the borough as Green Belt. The two figures are six years apart, and the plan went on to release some land from the Green Belt for its own allocations, which is the likeliest reason the current figure is lower. Either way, about three quarters of the open land a landowner might hold here is Green Belt, and that shapes everything below.

Runnymede in Figures

The government's latest figures for the council, and where its local plan stands.

Housing Delivery Test 2025
94%
Below 95%: the council must publish an action plan to improve delivery.
Homes built against homes needed
1,425
of 1,516 needed, April 2022 to March 2025
Most recent strategic plan adopted
July 2020
More than five years old, so its housing figures are usually replaced by the government's standard method.
New plan progress
No recent stage listed
Check the council's website for its timetable.

Sources: Housing Delivery Test: 2025 measurement, MHCLG, published 17 August 2026; Local plans: monitoring progress, Planning Inspectorate, August 2026. Local plans move quickly, so always check the council's own website for the latest position.

A 94% Result, and a Supply Under Three Years

Runnymede's delivery result has moved about from one edition to the next. The council's October 2024 action plan answered a result of 87% in the 2022 measurement; its September 2025 land supply statement quotes 114% for the 2023 measurement; and the Housing Delivery Test 2025 gives 94%. At that level the council must again explain how it will improve delivery, but national policy does not treat it as having unmet need on the score alone, and no 20% buffer applies.

The Number That Carries More Weight

The five-year supply is a different story. The September 2025 statement, with a base date of 1 April 2025, measured supply against the standard method figure of 640 homes a year, because the plan is more than five years old, and added a 5% buffer. It found 1,943 deliverable homes, equal to 2.89 years. The scoping document explains the jump behind it: the figure the council plans for has risen from 500 to 640 homes a year.

Under the August 2026 National Planning Policy Framework a shortfall in the five-year supply is evidence of unmet housing need. In Runnymede that evidence matters twice over. It supports the unmet need route in policy S5 on land outside the Green Belt, and it helps meet the need test that grey belt land has to pass before homes can be approved.

Routes to Permission in a Green Belt Borough

Inside the towns and villages. Policy S4 favours homes within settlements unless the harm substantially outweighs the benefits. The scoping document identifies Addlestone, Chertsey and Egham as the main town centres, where yards, car parks and tired commercial buildings start from a strong position.
Settlement edges outside the Green Belt. Where a field on the edge of a settlement is not itself Green Belt, the supply shortfall can support an application under S5, provided the land is physically well related to the place and the roads, schools and drainage can cope.
Grey belt. The council is carrying out a Green Belt review jointly with Elmbridge and Spelthorne, which will identify potential grey belt land. Parcels that do little to check sprawl or keep towns apart can qualify, provided the scheme meets the Golden Rules, which cover affordable homes, new infrastructure and access to green space. Our grey belt guide sets out each test.
Previously developed land. Former yards, depots and sites with lawful non-agricultural buildings have their own routes within Green Belt policy.
Near the stations. National policy now favours homes within reasonable walking distance of well-connected stations, which is worth testing on land close to Egham, Virginia Water, Chertsey or Addlestone.

Most Runnymede sites fall under more than one of these, and the order we test them in depends on where the Green Belt boundary runs across the land. A paddock that straddles the boundary, for example, is assessed in two parts.

Heaths, Floodplain and What a Permission Costs

Two local constraints add cost rather than ruling land out, and both are allowed for from the start.

Requirement	What the council asks for
Thames Basin Heaths	New homes within about 5km of Chobham Common need mitigation. The council's rates are £903.50 per occupant towards its greenspace (SANG) and, for 2026/27, £457.29 per occupant for access management (SAMM), up from £443.11. On-site SANG is typically viable only from around 60 homes.
Chobham Common itself	The 2030 Local Plan notes that a small part of the borough on its western side lies within 400 metres of Chobham Common, part of the protected heaths.
Affordable housing	Policy SL20 expects 35% affordable homes on schemes of 10 or more net new homes, split 70% rented and 30% other tenures, as set out in the April 2025 guidance.
Wider infrastructure	The scoping document says developer contributions do not fully meet the funding gap, and names the M25 Junction 11 improvements and the A320 corridor.

These costs come out of the value of a scheme, not out of your pocket, and our guide to section 106 and CIL explains how they are worked out.

The Floodplain

The scoping document notes the higher flood risk in the east of the borough from the Thames and its tributaries, and refers to the River Thames Scheme as a nationally significant infrastructure project. Land partly in Flood Zones 2 or 3 is not automatically ruled out, since homes can often be kept to the drier part, but it needs flood evidence early.

Allocated Sites That Have Not Come Forward

The council's October 2024 action plan is unusually frank about why homes have been slow. Among the reasons it gives:

Changes in developers' intentions for sites they own or control.
Fractured ownership, with several landowners inside a single allocation.
Housing associations taking on fewer section 106 homes.
Higher construction costs and limits on infrastructure and utilities.

It also says a handful of allocated sites have still not come forward and that the council will contact their owners about the barriers. Longcross Garden Village has outline permission for 1,700 homes, and the action plan recorded 186 completed on the northern site. If you own part of an allocation, or land next to one that could help it work, that is a conversation worth having.

Land on the edges of Addlestone, Chertsey, Egham, Ottershaw or Virginia Water.
Previously developed land and former yards, in or out of the Green Belt.
Enclosed parcels between existing homes and roads, which may be grey belt.
Land within an easy walk of one of the borough's stations.
Part or all of an allocated site that has not yet started.

Small sites count too: our page on paddocks and small sites explains what we look for.

The Next Twelve Months in Runnymede

A New Plan, Started This Summer

The council gave notice in June 2026 that it would prepare a new local plan under the reformed system, and its scoping consultation closes at 11.59pm on Monday 12 October 2026. Landowners are invited to put sites forward as part of it. The council's timetable, adopted on 25 February 2026, then shows a self-assessment gateway in October 2026, consultation on the vision and strategy in June and July 2027, consultation on the proposed plan in April and May 2028, submission in September 2028, examination from October 2028 to March 2029 and adoption in April 2029. The scoping document proposes a plan period of ten years from adoption, which at 640 homes a year means about 6,400 homes, rising to 9,600 over fifteen.

West Surrey

On 1 April 2027 a West Surrey unitary council replaces Runnymede and the other five borough and district councils in the west of the county. The council expects the new plan still to cover Runnymede's own area, and says the other five councils are taking a similar approach and starting plans of their own. The plan will therefore be finished by the new council, not the one that started it.

The Next Housing Delivery Test

The government publishes the test each year; the Housing Delivery Test 2025 came out on 17 August 2026. A rise to 95% would end the duty to prepare an action plan. A fall below 85% would add a 20% buffer to a supply already short of five years, and a fall below 75% would mean unmet need was treated as existing without further evidence. Given how far the result has moved between editions, we would not read much into any single year, and we have not seen completion figures for 2025/26.

Land Supply

The September 2025 statement is the latest we have found, and no 2026 statement had been published when we checked. A new statement could move the figure either way.

What It Means for Timing

The new plan will not be adopted until 2029 at the earliest, and its sites will be chosen from land put forward over the next year or so. A strong site can go forward by application while the supply is short and be put forward for the plan at the same time. We cover the cost of both, and how it works explains the steps.

Questions About Land in Runnymede

Runnymede scored 94%. Does that help my planning case?

Not much by itself. The score avoids the stronger consequences in national policy. The land supply is what helps: a shortfall is evidence of unmet need, and the council's last statement found 2.89 years.

My field is Green Belt. Is it worth asking?

Yes. The joint Green Belt review with Elmbridge and Spelthorne is looking for potential grey belt land, and enclosed or previously developed parcels can qualify now. We assess your land against each Green Belt purpose in our review.

Should I put my land in before 12 October?

It helps to be in early. The council is inviting sites as part of the scoping consultation, and they feed its land availability assessment. We can prepare the submission for you.

My land is near Chobham Common. Can it still take homes?

Usually, with mitigation. Homes within about 5km pay towards greenspace and access management, and larger schemes can provide their own greenspace. Land within 400 metres needs closer thought.

Will West Surrey Council change my prospects?

Not overnight. The new plan is expected to cover Runnymede's area on the timetable already set, and until it is adopted the current plan and national policy guide decisions.

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Sources

Figures on this page come from the Housing Delivery Test 2025 (published 17 August 2026) and the Planning Inspectorate's local plan monitoring to August 2026, with newer plan milestones checked on 24 September 2026. We update the page when new results or plan milestones are published. Planning positions change quickly, so always check the council's own website before relying on it.