Housing
March 2025
‘SMALLER HOMES WOULD CREATE BETTER BALANCE’
Many residents spoke passionately about the need for a better balance of housing in Claygate at the public meetings held in the village as the Claygate: The Way Forward project was being formed. The prevailing view was that there were too many large houses and not enough smaller units suitable for young members of the community and for older residents wanting to downsize within Claygate.
Research from several sources supported this sentiment – Claygate has a significantly higher proportion than the national average of houses with four bedrooms or more. The last national census in 2021 identified that more than 55 per cent of the housing in Claygate has four bedrooms or more and the village has half the national average number of inhabitants between the ages of 22 and 44.
The New Development and Housing Advisory Committee is now examining these issues. It was one of the groups formed as part of the Claygate: The Way Forward project and is now operating within the Parish Council. The group attracted a variety of members, including an architect, two surveyors, an accountant, lawyer and several others with an interest in Claygate’s housing stock and the changes perceived to be necessary.
The Housing Group therefore aims to support a better balance of small to medium-sized houses. Meetings have been held with Elmbridge Borough Council officials who have pointed out that its planning department can only decide on planning submissions submitted to it. The Housing Group therefore sees a role in pressing Elmbridge to enforce government requirements for the correct proportion of affordable housing in any larger applications made locally.
The group has also had to consider the impact the government’s increased targets for house building might have on Claygate. All local authorities are under strong government pressure to build significantly more homes and Elmbridge is working on a new Local Plan which, once finalised, is sure to reflect this pressure. The Housing Group, working closely with parish councillors, will also be seeking to influence how this new policy is implemented and be alert for any move for a big increase in the number of new housing developments in and around the village – particularly in the limited Green Belt areas between Claygate and Chessington and Hinchley Wood.
