Tandridge District Council approves four new family houses plan

Tandridge District Council has signed off plans to bulldoze a tired block of eight council flats in Caterham and replace it with just four new family houses. But the district will lose four council homes overall, even as the authority insists the replacements will be higher quality and more suitable for modern living.

The development at 53–67 Stanstead Road will see the current two-storey block flattened and swapped for three, 3-bed houses and one 4-bed, all for affordable rent. Members gave the go-ahead to the scheme at a Tandridge District Council planning meeting on December 11.

The council said the new builds will offer more space, gardens, energy efficiency and bike storage with e-charging, making them far better homes for families than the cramped flats they replace.

But the trade-off is numbers: eight council flats down to four houses. Cllr Black pointed out: “I know we’re getting four lovely houses but we are losing eight flats.” Meanwhile, another councillor was seen putting their head in their hands.

Cllr Bryan Black added: “There is no gain in housing numbers. We’re going to lose four and we’ve now got to find on top of what we’re already struggling to find. So I’m just wondering why we decided to go down that route rather than knock it down and put more flats up.”

But officers argued there is a “net gain” in that the flats are being replaced with highly sustainable homes which fit into the character of the area and meet modern housing standards.