Selling Land in Spelthorne

The plan had one of the more turbulent examinations in the South East. It was submitted on 25 November 2022 and hearings opened on 23 May 2023, but on 6 June 2023 the council asked the inspector to pause them. In September 2023 the housing minister wrote to the council expressing concern that it might withdraw the plan, and the council then asked for the pause to run until a revised national framework was published. Only on 24 October 2024 did the council vote to resume, and the remaining hearings finished on 18 February 2025.

The inspector's report, dated 4 March 2026 and announced by the council the next day, found the plan sound with main modifications. It raised the requirement from 618 to 631 homes a year, 10,726 over the plan period, against an identified supply of 9,900. The council's Green Belt FAQs put the Green Belt allocations at 24.81 hectares, 0.7% of the Green Belt, for about 740 homes. At the final stage the allocation at the former Bulldog Nurseries in Town Lane, Ashford, about 24 homes, was deleted after its owners confirmed it was no longer available, a reminder that a site only stays in a plan while its owner is committed to seeing it built.

Five Town Centre Sites Lost to Flooding

The report also deleted five allocations in Staines because each had a high risk of flooding that could not be mitigated: Bridge Street Car Park with Hanover House and the Sea Cadet building, the Surrey County Council buildings in Burges Way, the Fairways Day Centre at Knowle Green, Riverside Car Park and the Thames Lodge Hotel. Eleven more sites were made unavailable for development until a safe route in and out can be kept open during a 1% annual chance flood, with an allowance for climate change. A separate Staines Development Framework, a masterplan for the town, had gone to the inspector with the plan, but the report found it had not been finalised or independently examined and removed every reference to it.

The Immediate Review

Policy ST3 requires a partial review straight after adoption, because the 9,900 identified homes fall short of the full requirement. The inspector lists what it must cover: reassessing the housing requirement and allocating more land if needed, reviewing employment needs and the needs of Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople, and checking each policy against national policy. On 18 June 2026 the council's Environment and Sustainability Committee approved publication of a statutory notice of intention to begin plan-making. From April 2027 the work will pass to West Surrey Council. For a Spelthorne site, the evidence that tends to decide things is flood modelling and proof the owner will sell, and when to submit each is covered in the call for sites and local plans guide.

Does Spelthorne Have a Five-Year Supply?

Two council documents, three months apart, give different answers. The December 2025 monitoring report says the council was unable to demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land. The March 2026 land supply statement says it can show 5.3 years against 631 homes a year plus a 20% buffer, and the inspector's report says a deliverable five-year supply can be shown at adoption. The likely reason is timing: the monitoring report was written before the plan was adopted, and adoption brings its allocations into the supply. The March statement also bases its buffer on a delivery result of 68%, an earlier measurement than the 33% published in August 2026. For a landowner the difference matters less than it seems. The 33% result means the borough is treated as having evidenced unmet need whatever the supply figure, and the statement itself says the position will be reassessed in full through the review.