Reigate & Banstead's new Local Plan must find 1,281 homes a year, nearly triple the old target. Consultation opens 14 September. Plus Kingswood's 299-home scheme.

The biggest planning story in Reigate & Banstead is not any single building site. On 31 July 2026 the council formally began work on a new Local Plan to 2044, the document that will decide where homes are built here for the next generation, under a Government housing formula that asks the borough for 1,281 homes a year, nearly three times the 460 a year its adopted plan was built around. The first public consultation opens on 14 September. Around it sit the borough’s live schemes, led by a 299-home redevelopment of the former Legal & General headquarters at Kingswood. Here is where everything stands, from the council’s own documents.

The new Local Plan: what is happening and when

Development here is currently governed by two adopted documents: the Core Strategy, adopted in July 2014, and the Development Management Plan, adopted in 2019. Both were reviewed and kept in force, but the Core Strategy’s plan period runs out in 2027, which is one reason the council is moving now. Full Council approved the programme for the new plan on 22 July 2026 and published its formal notice of intention to commence on 31 July (council announcement; notice to commence). It is one of the first plans in the country prepared under the Government’s reformed plan-making system, and Whitehall paid the council £108,000 in March 2026, conditional on starting early, towards a process the council costs at around £1 million.

The number driving it all is housing need. The council’s own draft scoping document puts it plainly: under the Government’s standard method, Reigate & Banstead needs 1,281 new homes each year, about 19,215 homes over the 15-year plan. The adopted Core Strategy target is 460 a year. The same document is candid about what that means on the ground: reusing brownfield land “is unlikely to be enough”, so the plan will have to consider greenfield sites, extensions to settlements and potential new communities, and “this is likely to mean changes to Green Belt boundaries” (draft scoping consultation document). The officers’ report to councillors is equally frank that the “very high housing figure” increases the risk the plan is found unsound at examination (council report).

Chart comparing Reigate and Banstead housing numbers: 460 homes a year in the adopted Core Strategy against 1,281 a year under the Government's standard method, with a timeline from the July 2026 notice through the September 2026 scoping consultation and the April 2027 East Surrey handover to a June 2029 adoption target

The timetable, from the council’s published programme (new Local Plan timetable):

  • 14 September to late October 2026: a six-week scoping consultation, the first public stage.
  • June to July 2027: consultation on the draft vision and spatial strategy.
  • March to May 2028: consultation on proposed policies and site allocations, the stage where fields get names.
  • December 2028: submission to Government, examination through spring 2029, and adoption targeted for June 2029.

What it means for you: the Local Plan stage is where the real decisions get made. Once a site is allocated in an adopted plan, a later detailed application on it is very hard to refuse. If you will ever want a say about land near you, the September scoping consultation and the 2028 site-allocations consultation are the moments that count, not the eventual planning application.

One reorganisation wrinkle: Reigate & Banstead Borough Council is abolished on 31 March 2027, when the borough becomes part of the new East Surrey Council. The new council inherits the plan mid-process and will run the later consultations, submit it and adopt it. Cllr Kate Fairhurst, the executive member for place, planning and regulatory services, has argued that pressing on regardless is the best way to keep control over speculative development, and the Government is encouraging exactly that.

Kingswood: 299 homes at the former Legal & General headquarters

The borough’s biggest live application is the phased redevelopment of Legal & General House on St Monica’s Road, Kingswood, the landmark listed headquarters that has stood empty since 2018. Developer City & Country’s applications, 26/00463/F with listed building consent 26/00464/LBC, were validated on 9 April 2026 and remain undecided. The scheme comprises up to 122 later-living units and up to 177 open-market homes, up to 299 in all, split between conversions of L&G House and St Monica’s House and new buildings in the grounds, plus offices and a members’ sports club with the building’s indoor pool restored and a new outdoor pool (application on the council’s planning portal). A previous consent, granted in 2019 for a 280-unit retirement village, was never built out. The developer has told local press it hopes to start on site in 2027 with first residents in 2028; treat that as ambition, not a council-verified date.

Refused: 130 homes at Copt Hill Lane

The sharpest recent test of the borough’s Green Belt line also came at Kingswood. An outline application for around 130 homes on land north of Copt Hill Lane (ref 26/00128/OUT), with access from Canons Lane, was refused on 15 June 2026 (application record). With the standard method demanding almost triple the adopted housing numbers, expect refusals like this one to be tested at appeal, and expect the same fields to reappear in the Local Plan’s site-allocation arguments in 2028.

Also live: a clampdown on small HMOs

The council is consulting, from 30 July to 24 September 2026, on an Article 4 direction that would remove permitted development rights for converting a family home into a small house in multiple occupation for three to six residents; larger HMOs already need permission. If confirmed, it takes effect on 30 July 2027, after which every small HMO conversion in the borough would need a planning application (council announcement). Comments go to planning.policy@reigate-banstead.gov.uk.

The delivery record behind the argument

Two numbers give the housing debate here its shape. Measured over the last complete monitoring year, the borough built 215 net new homes in 2024/25, down from 488 the year before and well under even the old 460 target. Yet on the Government’s Housing Delivery Test the borough scored 181% in the latest published measurement, comfortably clear of any sanction, and its cumulative record since 2012, 7,006 net completions, has already beaten the Core Strategy’s “at least 6,900 homes by 2027” requirement (Housing Monitor 2025). Since 2012 the growth has been spread remarkably evenly: roughly 30% in Horley, 29% in Banstead, 26% in Reigate and 15% in Redhill. The new plan’s 1,281-a-year figure would require delivery at a pace this borough has never sustained.

Following it yourself

Day-to-day applications are decided by the Planning Committee, which meets at 7.30pm roughly monthly; the next meetings are 9 and 30 September 2026, with agendas and minutes on the council’s committee pages. Every live application is searchable on the planning portal, and our guide to Reigate planning applications walks through how to search the weekly lists, comment and speak at committee. For how the housebuilding argument feeds through to what homes cost here, see Reigate house prices.

Frequently asked questions

What is happening with Reigate & Banstead’s Local Plan?

The council formally began a new Local Plan on 31 July 2026, covering the borough to 2044. The first public consultation, a six-week scoping stage, opens on 14 September 2026, with adoption targeted for June 2029 after further consultations in 2027 and 2028 (council timetable).

How many homes does Reigate & Banstead have to build?

The Government’s standard method puts the borough’s need at 1,281 homes a year, about 19,215 over the 15-year plan, against the 460 a year in the adopted Core Strategy (draft scoping document). The council says meeting it is likely to mean changes to Green Belt boundaries.

What is being built at Legal & General House in Kingswood?

Nothing yet: City & Country’s application for up to 299 homes, offices and a members’ sports club on the listed former headquarters site (ref 26/00463/F) was validated in April 2026 and is still awaiting a decision.

Will the new East Surrey Council change the plan?

East Surrey Council replaces Reigate & Banstead on 1 April 2027 and inherits the Local Plan mid-process; it will run the later stages and adopt it. The plan still covers the same borough geography, though the new council could in principle change course, which is a risk the council’s own report acknowledges.

Where can I comment on planning in the borough?

On individual applications, through the planning portal while an application is open for comments. On the Local Plan, through the scoping consultation from 14 September 2026, via the Local Plan 2044 pages. On the HMO Article 4 direction, by email until 24 September 2026.

Sources

Application statuses and consultation dates change; check the council’s pages for the current position. Checked against the sources above on 7 August 2026.