Surrey council area
Selling Land in Woking
Woking built 1,272 of the 1,308 homes it needed and passed the delivery test with 97%. Its land supply has been measured against a Core Strategy figure of 292 homes a year from 2012, which the council's 2023 review kept, but that strategy runs to 2027 and a new plan to 2044 is under way.
- We pay for the planning, at our own cost and risk
- Your price is agreed up front, in writing
- If planning is refused, you keep your land and owe nothing
A Railway Town Ringed by Heath and Green Belt
Woking Borough Council covers the town of Woking with Horsell, Sheerwater, Old Woking, Mayford and St John's, Knaphill and Brookwood to the west, and Byfleet, West Byfleet and Pyrford to the east. It covers about 64 square kilometres and had some 104,000 residents in 2021.
- Green Belt on most of the open land. The inspector who examined the Site Allocations DPD noted that, according to the Core Strategy, some 60% of the borough is Green Belt.
- Heath on the doorstep. Horsell Common, Sheets Heath and the Ash to Brookwood Heaths are part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area, and the council's 2026 strategy says all of the borough falls within the zone where new homes need mitigation.
- Well connected. Woking, Brookwood and West Byfleet have stations, junction 11 of the M25 and junction 3 of the M3 are close by, the River Wey follows the south eastern boundary and the Basingstoke Canal crosses from west to east.
- A plan in two parts. The Core Strategy was adopted in October 2012 and looks ahead to 2027. The Site Allocations Development Plan Document followed on 14 October 2021.
- Close to target. The Housing Delivery Test 2025 counted 1,272 homes against a requirement of 1,308, a result of 97%.
Nearly every question about a Woking site comes back to three things: whether it is in the Green Belt, how it will be matched with SANG, and which housing figure the council's supply is measured against.
Woking in Figures
The government's latest figures for the council, and where its local plan stands.
Housing Delivery Test 2025
97%
Meeting its housing requirement.
Homes built against homes needed
1,272
of 1,308 needed, April 2022 to March 2025
Most recent strategic plan adopted
October 2012
More than five years old, so its housing figures are usually replaced by the government's standard method.
New plan progress
Updated
New Local Plan to 2044 started; timetable aims for adoption in April 2029
Checked source
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.
292 Homes a Year, Reviewed and Kept
The Core Strategy plans for 4,964 homes between 2010 and 2027, or 292 a year. Reviews in 2018 and 2023 both found no need to change it, and the 2023 review set the figures side by side:
| Measure | Homes a year |
|---|---|
| Core Strategy requirement, 2010 to 2027 | 292 |
| Standard method need, as the 2023 review calculated it | 409 or 437 |
| Unmet need the review accepted | 117 to 144 |
The review kept the lower figure because of three constraints, the Green Belt, the Thames Basin Heaths and flood risk, and pointed to the inspector's acceptance of the Green Belt review when the Site Allocations DPD was examined.
The Council's Supply Calculation, and Three Ways It Has Been Reported
The working sits in the five-year supply supplement to the council's 2023 monitoring report:
| Part of the calculation | Council's figure |
|---|---|
| Base date | 1 April 2023 |
| 2023/24 to 2026/27 | 292 a year, or 1,168 homes |
| 2027/28, after the plan period | 437 homes, the standard method |
| Five-year requirement with a 5% buffer | 1,685 homes |
| Deliverable supply | 2,738 homes |
| Result | 8.1 years |
The same supply has been quoted three ways. The supplement gives 8.1 years with a 5% buffer, and 7.8 years in an illustration with 10%. The 2023 review quoted 7.8 years as the 5% result. The June 2024 action plan, prepared after a delivery result that brought a 20% buffer, put it at 7.1 years. The differences are all about the buffer; on every version the borough had well over five years against its own requirement at April 2023.
The council has since published a 2025 statement covering April 2025 to March 2030. It is issued as a scanned document whose headline figure has not been reported elsewhere, so we check it directly when reviewing a site.
Over 3,000 Homes Allocated, and at Least 550 From the Green Belt
The Site Allocations DPD, which the inspector found sound in August 2021, identifies land for over 3,000 homes over the rest of the plan period. As the inspector put it, the DPD makes clear that "at least" 550 of them should come on Green Belt sites, including West Hall and Broadoaks, and it safeguards further land to meet needs beyond 2027.
The council's June 2024 delivery action plan records uneven completions:
| Year | Homes completed |
|---|---|
| 2019/20 | 303 |
| 2020/21 | 147 |
| 2021/22 | 386 |
| 2022/23 | 650 |
The plan blames the dip in 2020/21 on the pandemic and Brexit rather than a lack of land, and notes that viability on previously developed urban land limits the affordable housing such schemes can provide.
The Council's Finances and Sheerwater
The council issued a Section 114 notice in June 2023. The same action plan says the most notable effect on housing has been at Sheerwater, where the phases that had not started, with outline permission only, are no longer being taken forward by the council, and some empty homes will be brought back into use instead.
Routes to Permission in a 60% Green Belt Borough
Where supply is measured against 292 homes a year, as in the 2023 review, the routes that do not depend on a shortfall carry most weight:
- Inside the town and villages. New homes within a settlement are judged under national policy S4, which weighs heavily in their favour: they should be approved unless the harm would substantially outweigh the benefits. Plots, backland and yards in Woking, Knaphill, Byfleet and West Byfleet come first.
- Brownfield land in the Green Belt. A former builder's yard, a lorry park or a site carrying lawful commercial buildings is treated on its own terms by Green Belt policy, although former farm buildings do not qualify. Our brownfield and yards page explains how they are judged.
- Grey belt. Green Belt land that plays only a weak part in the Green Belt's purposes can be grey belt, but homes on it need evidenced unmet need. The usual evidence is a supply short of five years, and against 292 homes a year the council's published calculations show well over five, so a housing case on grey belt here is hard today and would strengthen only if the supply position changed. The purposes test and the Golden Rules that follow it are covered in our grey belt guide.
- Through the new plan. Safeguarded land and larger Green Belt holdings will in most cases come forward through the Local Plan to 2044 rather than an application.
Policy S5, which supports well related land beyond a settlement's edge where unmet need is shown, does not apply in the Green Belt, so it has limited reach in Woking.
Zone B Everywhere: SANG as the First Check
The council adopted its latest Thames Basin Heaths avoidance strategy in January 2026. Within 400 metres of the heath there is a presumption against new homes. Between 400 metres and 5 kilometres, which the strategy says covers the whole borough, every scheme needs an appropriate assessment, SANG and a payment towards managing visitors on the heaths (SAMM).
| SANG | Status | Homes it can support |
|---|---|---|
| Horsell Common | Existing | 1,451 |
| Heather Farm | Existing | 1,275 |
| Brookwood Country Park | Existing | 1,036 |
| White Rose Lane | Existing | 425 |
| Brookwood Farm | Proposed in the Site Allocations DPD | 987 |
| Land south of Parvis Road, Byfleet | Proposed | 799 |
| Westfield Common | Proposed | 570 |
| Gresham Mill (two parts) | Proposed | 425 and 493 |
SANG is sized at 8 hectares per 1,000 residents, and the council sets aside 39.5% of all Community Infrastructure Levy receipts to pay for it. Schemes that pay no CIL contribute the same share of a notional CIL bill through a section 106 agreement, and SAMM is always secured that way. Our guide to section 106 and CIL explains how these costs come off a scheme's value, and we build them in from the start.
The strategy says enough SANG has been identified for the Core Strategy period. A plan to 2044 that provides for more homes will need more of it, so larger open holdings may have a role as greenspace in the next plan.
The Land We Look for in Woking
- Plots, yards and larger gardens inside Woking, Knaphill, Byfleet, West Byfleet and the other built-up areas.
- Old yards, depots and commercial plots in the Green Belt, with a lawful use on record.
- Green Belt land enclosed by homes, roads, the railway or the canal that may be grey belt.
- Land safeguarded in the Site Allocations DPD for needs beyond 2027.
- Open holdings that could serve as SANG for homes elsewhere.
- Sites more than 400 metres from Horsell Common, Sheets Heath and Brookwood Heath.
We pay for every survey and report, including the heathland assessment, under an option whose price is settled on day one, above the land's present value. You keep using your land until the purchase completes, and if no permission is ever granted, it remains yours with nothing owed to us.
Woking as Its Core Strategy Runs Out in 2027
A Plan Period That Ends
The 2023 review asked for the Core Strategy to be updated in time to adopt a replacement before its plan period ends in 2027, but the council's timetable now points to adoption in April 2029, and the next review of the strategy is due by October 2028. The 2023 calculation already switched to the standard method for 2027/28. From a base date of April 2027 every year of a five-year calculation falls after the plan period, so the figure the council then applies will shape the result. We make no forecast of it.
The New Local Plan to 2044
The council gave notice on 22 May 2026 that it had begun a new plan for 2027 to 2044 under the government's new plan-making approach, and consulted on its scope from 13 July 2026. Its timetable sets out the stages still to come:
| Stage | Council's date |
|---|---|
| Gateway 1 self-assessment | 25 September 2026 |
| Consultation on proposed content | 6 January to 19 February 2027 |
| Gateway 2 assessment | 26 April 2027 |
| Consultation on the draft plan | 14 January to 13 March 2028 |
| Submission for examination | 29 September 2028 |
| Adoption | April 2029 |
The January 2027 consultation is the first point at which land is likely to be weighed, so evidence for a site is best prepared this winter. Those stages are explained in call for sites and local plans.
West Surrey
The government's review of reorganisation, launched on 7 September 2026, leaves Surrey unaffected, so West Surrey Council still starts in April 2027. A report to the council's Executive in March 2026 noted that any new West Surrey local plan is unlikely to be prepared for some time, which is why Woking is pressing on with its own.
The Next Delivery Test
The Housing Delivery Test 2025 came out on 17 August 2026, and a new edition follows each year. At 97%, Woking built 36 fewer homes than required but still cleared the 95% line. A result under 95% would bring back an action plan, like the one prepared in June 2024; under 85% the supply calculation would carry a 20% buffer; and under 75% policy S5 would regard unmet need as shown.
What This Means for Timing
- Sites inside the settlements and previously developed land can be looked at now.
- Safeguarded and larger Green Belt land is best readied for the January 2027 consultation.
- Any site needs its SANG route settled early.
Questions About Land in Woking
Which housing figure is Woking's land supply measured against?
For the years to 2027, the Core Strategy's 292 homes a year, which the 2023 review found still up to date. Later years are the ones to watch, because the margin above five years depends on the figure used for them.
My land is safeguarded in the Site Allocations DPD. What happens now?
Safeguarded land was set aside for needs beyond 2027, and the new plan to 2044 is where that need will be decided. It does not carry permission today, but it is a strong starting point, and preparing its evidence before the January 2027 consultation is the most useful step.
All of Woking is within 5 kilometres of the heaths. Does that rule my site out?
No. Outside the 400 metre zone, homes can be made acceptable with SANG and a SAMM payment. For most schemes the SANG is funded through CIL, and larger holdings may provide their own.
Does the council's Section 114 notice affect my planning application?
The council says its most notable effect on housing has been at Sheerwater, its own regeneration project. Applications on private land are still decided against the development plan and national policy.
My field near Mayford is in the Green Belt. Could it count as grey belt?
It may. Grey belt turns on how much a parcel does for the Green Belt's purposes, and a field hemmed in by homes or roads often does less than open country. Housing on grey belt land also needs evidenced unmet need, which is hard to show against 292 homes a year, so we assess both before advising.
Tell Us About Your Land in Woking
It takes about two minutes. We only need your postcode, your name and a phone number or email; the rest helps us look properly. We reply within 2 working days, in confidence.
More in Surrey
County overview
Selling Land in Surrey
Selling land in Surrey? Most councils are behind on new homes and grey belt is being tested. We agree your price up front and pay for all the planning.
Housing Delivery Test: 102%
Selling Land in Guildford
Own land in Guildford? The council has 2.98 years of housing land, as its need has roughly doubled since 2019. We agree your price and pay for all the planning.
Housing Delivery Test: 102%
Selling Land in Reigate and Banstead
Own land in Reigate and Banstead? The council now counts 4.08 years of housing land, under the five it needs. We agree your price and pay for all the planning.
Housing Delivery Test: 98%
Selling Land in Surrey Heath
Own land in Surrey Heath? Its land supply is 7.17 years on the old housing figure but 3.12 on the new one. We agree your price and pay for all the planning.
Housing Delivery Test: 117%
Selling Land in Waverley
Own land in Waverley? Its latest statement finds 1.28 years of housing land against a need of 1,481 a year. We agree your price and pay for all the planning.
Housing Delivery Test: 59%
Selling Land in Elmbridge
Own land in Elmbridge? Its last plan was found unsound and a new one is due in 2028. See what grey belt means for you. We pay for all the planning.
Housing Delivery Test: 33%
Selling Land in Epsom and Ewell
Own land in Epsom and Ewell? The council built only 33% of the homes it needed. We agree your price for the land up front and pay for all the planning.
Housing Delivery Test: 72%
Selling Land in Mole Valley
Own land in Mole Valley? A 2024 plan with an early review, the Surrey Hills and Green Belt explained. We agree a price and pay for all the planning.
Housing Delivery Test: 33%
Selling Land in Spelthorne
Own land in Spelthorne? The council built only 33% of the homes it needed and is already reviewing its plan. We agree a price and pay for the planning.
Housing Delivery Test: 38%
Selling Land in Tandridge
Own land in Tandridge? The council built only 38% of the homes it needed in a district that is 94% Green Belt. We pay for all the planning work.
Housing Delivery Test: 94%
Selling Land in Runnymede
Own land in Runnymede? The council's September 2025 statement found 2.89 years of housing land, not five. We agree your price and pay for all the planning.
Sources
- Woking Borough Council: Core Strategy Review 2023 (September 2023)
- Woking Borough Council: AMR 2023 Five Year Housing Land Supply supplement, base date 1 April 2023
- Woking Borough Council: Housing Delivery Test Action Plan (June 2024)
- Woking Borough Council: Five Year Housing Land Supply Position Statements
- Woking Borough Council: Site Allocations Development Plan Document (adopted October 2021)
- Planning Inspectorate: Report on the examination of the Woking Site Allocations DPD (August 2021)
- Woking Borough Council: Thames Basin Heaths SPA Avoidance Strategy (January 2026)
- Woking Borough Council: Help shape the next stage of Woking's new Local Plan (July 2026)
- Woking Borough Council: Timetable for our new Local Plan (May 2026)
- Woking Borough Council: New Local Plan for Woking, next steps and timetable, Executive (March 2026)
- GOV.UK: Review of local government reorganisation launched (7 September 2026)
- Wikipedia: Borough of Woking
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.