Tenders over budget sank the building contract for four small council-home sites. Guildford Park Road and Weyside are late too, the council's own report shows.
Guildford Borough Council has scrapped the building contract for four of its small council-housing sites. The tenders came in above the budget, and the council now says those sites are unlikely to go ahead in their previous form.
The admission is in the council’s latest Delivery Plan Progress Report. It scores the council against the promises it made for 2026/27, the last full year before West Surrey Council takes over in April 2027.
The report marks a promise “in progress” when it “is being worked on, however has missed its intended deadline”. Ten actions carry that label in its tables. They include the Guildford Park Road housing scheme and three parts of Weyside Urban Village.
The small sites that will not start
The council’s 2026/27 Delivery Plan set out the programme in the spring. It covers eight small sites across the borough and 27 council-owned affordable homes. For this year, it promised:
- contractors appointed by April 2026 for six projects, delivering 19 homes across Westborough, Send, Ripley and Pirbright
- building to start by September 2026 on four of those sites, with five homes between them: two in Westborough, one in Send and one in Ripley
- work to begin on tenders for two more sites, in Ash and Tongham
The progress report says the original construction contract, put out to tender for four sites, “was abandoned” because tender prices exceeded the available budget. “It is therefore unlikely that these sites will proceed in the previous form,” it says. Those four “will not commence on site in September as planned”.
The report does not name the four sites.
For two other sites, the council is working with Francis Construction on the design and a cost plan. Sub-contract packages will then go out to tender. If the contract sums fit the agreed budget, Francis Construction will be appointed to build them in early 2027.
The ten late actions
This is every action the report’s tables mark as having missed its deadline.
| Action | Was due | What the report says now |
|---|---|---|
| Small sites: appoint contractors | April 2026 | Contract for four sites abandoned over cost; two sites to be priced by early 2027 |
| Small sites: start building | September 2026 | Four sites will not start; the other two could start in early 2027 |
| Guildford Park Road homes: start on site | September 2026 | Held up by Network Rail approvals needed before main construction |
| Weyside: Burpham Court Farm nature reserve | April 2026 | Now late autumn 2026, after poor weather and third-party approvals |
| Weyside: market the first land for sale | June 2026 | Soft market testing from autumn 2026, marketing from summer 2027 |
| Weyside: internal estate road | September 2026 | Now October 2026, a month behind |
| Westborough and Park Barn: appoint consultants | June 2026 | Preferred bidder identified |
| York Road rough sleeping hub: planning and technical design | September 2026 | Planning expected “by late summer”, design by winter |
| Asset disposal strategy: pick assets to sell | June 2026 | Review continuing |
| Research into alternatives to weedkiller | Spring 2026 | Launched; first tests began in July |
Two entries were overtaken before the report came out. The York Road hub already had planning permission: the Planning Committee approved it on 26 August. The council also named its Westborough and Park Barn consultants, led by Levitt Bernstein, on 28 August.
Guildford Park Road and Weyside
Guildford Park Road is the council’s biggest housing scheme in the town. The delivery plan describes 248 homes on the former car park near the station, built with the developer Wates. The car park closed to the public on 1 June to make way for construction. Work was due to begin on site in September. The report says it may miss that date because of Network Rail approvals, and that the council is working with Network Rail to resolve them.
Weyside Urban Village, at Slyfield, is the council’s regeneration of brownfield land for about 1,500 homes. Its new depot is built, and the sewage treatment works was on track to finish construction in September. But selling the first land for housing has slipped by a year. The report blames “global economic and political matters” and “a challenging housing market”. Our report on the Weyside depot and the scheme’s finances covers the wider money picture.
What the council did deliver
The report’s summary counts 36 actions due by the end of September:
- 18 complete
- 9 on track
- 9 in progress
Completed work includes:
- the highest C1 grading from the Regulator of Social Housing’s consumer standards, for the council’s housing service
- Green Flag awards for Castle Grounds and Stoke Park
- the fleet replacement programme for 2026 to 2028, the first step towards electric vehicles
- construction of the Weyside depot
- six services now shared with Waverley Borough Council
The report says the councils have now stopped further joint working to concentrate on reorganisation. It also says a review decided not to replace the housing management IT system, because of reorganisation.
The figures do not quite match
The council’s press release of 18 September gave different numbers from its own report. It said 38 actions were due, with 16 complete, nine on track and 11 in progress. The report says 36 were due, with 18 complete. Its tables show ten actions as late, one more than its own summary.
The release describes the 11 as actions that “remain in progress”. It does not say that, under the report’s own definition, each has missed its deadline.
The independent panel’s view
The report came out days after the council’s Independent Assurance Panel gave its fourth six-monthly assessment to Full Council on 15 September. The panel was appointed in July 2024 after governance reviews. It found the risk of the council failing its legal “Best Value” duty is now “much lower”. It named Housing Services as the council’s “most significant area of risk” (Guildford Borough Council).
What it means for you
- If you are waiting for a council home, the small sites programme will produce fewer homes this year than planned. Four sites have no contract, and the council has not said which they are.
- If you live near Guildford Park Road, the car park is shut but the building work has not started. The Network Rail approvals decide when it does.
- If you live near Slyfield or Burpham, the Burpham Court Farm nature reserve is now due in late autumn, not April.
- The council has six months left. Anything unfinished passes to West Surrey Council on 1 April 2027.
Planning applications for any of these schemes appear on the council’s portal: our guide to Guildford planning applications explains how to search it.
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