Councillors clash over selling Horley car park for homes

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 23 Oct, 15:33 · Archive

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council is being urged to build social homes on a car park site rather than sell it to developers.

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council is pursuing the redevelopment of High Street Car Park in Horley into about 40 homes. In September, the council executive decided to sell the car park on the open market. Opposition councillors have now called for this decision to be reconsidered, asking instead that the site be used to build social homes.

Green group head Jonathan Essex argued that the council should not be 'selling off assets to the private sector' and should instead use 'reserved funding, which was allocated for affordable housing, to deliver affordable housing' on the site. Fellow Green councillor Gillian Vischer told the overview and scrutiny committee that the private market had not shown it could provide the social rented homes needed. However, council leader Richard Biggs described the decision as 'a sensible use of resources', telling BBC Radio Surrey the site was 'a challenging site next to the railway' and the council wanted to put out 'a conditional request to see what came in'. Executive member Ben Green told the meeting that the sites were not part of the affordable housing cash reserve that Essex referenced.

Surrey Live reported that opposition members had also raised concerns about losing car park spaces in the town centre and that private developers would restrict the number of affordable homes built. The overview and scrutiny committee recommended that more weight be given to the need for low-cost homes and that the council consider working with housing associations.

How it is being reported

• Redhill and Horley car park should be turned into affordable homes, councillors sayOpposition councillors say a car park should not be sold off private developers and instead be used for social housingSurrey Live · 23 Oct, 15:02
• Call to use car park site for social homesSome councillors say the site should stay in local control but council leaders propose an open sale.BBC Surrey · 23 Oct, 06:10

In this story: Reigate and Banstead Borough Council · Horley · Jonathan Essex · Richard Biggs · Gillian Vischer · Ben Green

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