Guildford's new Local Plan starts with a consultation this autumn, against a 1,170-homes-a-year figure. Plus North Street, Weyside and St Mary's Wharf.

The biggest planning story in Guildford is not any single building site. It is the new Local Plan the borough formally started in May 2026, the document that will decide where homes are built here into the 2040s, under a Government housing formula that asks Guildford for roughly double the homes a year its current plan provides for. The first public consultation arrives this autumn. Around it, the three schemes that will define the town for a decade, North Street, Weyside Urban Village and St Mary’s Wharf, are each at a very different point: one building fast, one laying roads, one paused. Here is where everything stands, from the council’s own documents.

The new Local Plan: what is happening and when

Guildford’s development is currently governed by two adopted documents: the Local Plan: Strategy and Sites, adopted 2019 and covering development to 2034, and the Local Plan: Development Management Policies, adopted 2023. The council decided in February 2024 that an update was necessary, approved a fresh timetable on 28 May 2026 and gave formal notice that work on the new Local Plan has begun in early June (council Local Plan FAQ).

The first formal stage is a Regulation 18 “scoping” consultation in September and October 2026. A full six-week consultation on a draft plan follows later, then submission to Government and an independent examination, with the whole process targeted to complete within 30 months of commencement under the new plan-making rules.

The number driving it all is housing need. Under the standard method in the December 2024 National Planning Policy Framework, Guildford’s assessed need is about 1,170 homes a year, against the 562 a year the adopted plan was built around, a figure the civic society calls out as the plan’s defining pressure (The Guildford Society). In a borough where most undeveloped land is Green Belt, finding space for double the housebuilding is the argument the next two years of consultation will be about.

Chart comparing Guildford housing numbers: 562 homes a year in the adopted 2019 Local Plan against 1,170 a year under the Government's 2024 standard method, with a timeline from the plan's May 2026 start through the September to October 2026 consultation to West Surrey Council taking over on 1 April 2027

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 a field near you, the autumn scoping consultation and the draft-plan consultation after it are the moments that count, not the eventual planning application. The council publishes updates through the Local Plan pages.

One reorganisation wrinkle: Guildford Borough Council is abolished on 1 April 2027, when the borough becomes part of the new West Surrey Council alongside Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Waverley and Woking (The Surrey (Structural Changes) Order 2026; Surrey LGR hub). The council’s own FAQ is clear that the new Local Plan carries on across that handover and will still cover the same Guildford geography; the successor council inherits it mid-process.

North Street: the town centre’s biggest build, bus station by December

The most visible change in town is St Edward’s North Street regeneration: around 477 homes, three public squares, 2.2 acres of public realm and an upgraded bus station, on the long-derelict block between North Street and Leapale Road. Construction started in May 2025 (Berkeley Group). The council’s own milestone list then runs: junction improvements at Leapale Road and North Street from spring 2026, the Commercial Road reconfiguration and the pedestrianisation of North Street from autumn 2026, and refurbishment of the bus station beginning in January 2027 (Guildford Borough Council). The overall scheme runs to around 2031. Our full timetable is in North Street pedestrianised from autumn 2026. The approved home count has shifted slightly with amendments, from 471 to 479 depending on the version you read, so treat “around 480” as the honest figure.

Weyside Urban Village: roads first, then 1,500 homes

North of the centre at Slyfield, the council’s own Weyside Urban Village is the borough’s biggest housing site: approximately 1,500 homes on brownfield land, plus a relocated sewage works, a new council depot and a local centre (official project site). Some coverage of the scheme puts the figure at 1,650, so expect both numbers in print. 2026 is an infrastructure year: contractor Winvic took its third infrastructure package in June, covering road reconstruction, drainage and cable diversions around Slyfield Industrial Estate, with the current highways phase due to complete in winter 2026 and off-site highway works in early 2027 (Premier Construction News). Locally that has meant repeated works on Clay Lane, with dates revised as recently as late July.

St Mary’s Wharf: the Debenhams site is in a “natural pause”

The riverside scheme replacing the former Debenhams store tells a different story. Native Land’s St Mary’s Wharf, approved back in November 2022, is to bring 185 apartments, 21,000 sq ft of shops, restaurants and workspace and an acre of public riverside walkways to the Onslow Street site. Demolition of the 1960s store finished in summer 2025, and since then the site has sat quiet: the council’s planning lead says the project is “in a natural pause” between construction phases while Native Land finalises detailed design, and no party has ever given a completion date (SurreyLive, May 2026). The cleared riverside plot is the most consequential empty space in the town centre.

A decision to watch: 200 homes at Ash goes to appeal

The sharpest live test of the borough’s Green Belt line is at Shortlands Farm, Guildford Road, Ash (application 25/P/01521): an outline scheme for 200 homes on land the developer argues is “grey belt” rather than Green Belt (The Guildford Society). The applicant appealed for non-determination, taking the decision to the Planning Inspectorate, but when the council’s planning committee met on 24 June 2026 it voted unanimously that it would have refused the scheme, finding it fell short of the Government’s “golden rules” for Green Belt release, even as officers warned that refusing on grey-belt grounds carried a costs risk (Local Democracy Reporting Service). The inspector’s ruling, when it comes, will signal how much protection the borough’s Green Belt really has under the new national rules, just as the Local Plan starts allocating land.

Following it yourself

Every live application in the borough is searchable on the council’s Public Access portal, where you can read documents and comment within the consultation window; the council’s search guidance explains how. Our guide to Guildford planning applications walks through the process, from weekly lists to committee dates. For how the housebuilding argument feeds through to what homes cost here, see Guildford house prices.

Frequently asked questions

What is happening with Guildford’s Local Plan?

The council formally began a new Local Plan on 28 May 2026, with the first public consultation, a Regulation 18 scoping stage, in September and October 2026. A draft plan consultation, submission and examination follow, targeted at completion within 30 months (council FAQ).

How many homes does Guildford have to build?

The Government’s standard method puts Guildford’s assessed need at about 1,170 homes a year, roughly double the 562 a year in the adopted 2019 plan (The Guildford Society). The new Local Plan has to work out where, and how much Green Belt is touched in the process.

What is being built on North Street in Guildford?

St Edward’s regeneration of the North Street block: 477 homes including 47 affordable, 2.2 acres of public realm and a refurbished bus station, under construction since May 2025. The council’s timetable pedestrianises North Street from autumn 2026 and starts the bus station refurbishment in January 2027, with the full scheme running to about 2031.

What happened to the Debenhams site in Guildford?

It was demolished by summer 2025 for Native Land’s St Mary’s Wharf scheme, 185 flats and riverside public space approved in 2022. The project is currently paused between phases with no announced completion date.

Will West Surrey Council change Guildford’s planning?

The new unitary council takes over on 1 April 2027 and inherits the Local Plan work in progress; the plan will still cover the Guildford area. Day-to-day applications continue as normal through the handover.

Sources

Checked against the council’s own documents and the sources above on 7 August 2026. We will update this page as the autumn consultation opens.