Extra Care Housing is specialist, high-quality accommodation designed for older people who need additional support and care to keep living independently. Each self-contained flat has its own front door and each development offers communal facilities with activities to encourage people to participate and develop a supportive community.  An onsite care provider will support residents to maintain their health and wellbeing and staff are available 24 hours a day to respond to emergencies.

We know that with the right housing and the right care, in the right place, people are less likely to feel isolated or lonely, will live independently for longer, and are less likely to require hospital admission.  Extra Care Housing delivers homes designed with care and support in mind, with facilities and staffing in place to help older people to live as independently as they wish.

Currently there is not enough affordable Extra Care Housing in Surrey. This means that many older people who can no longer live in their existing homes because of their needs, often end up having to move into a care home.  With more Extra Care Housing available, older people can live long-term in a supportive and well-designed community.

Our Extra Care Housing will be: 
• Designed so that residents can live their life their own way
• Created with our residents' future in mind 
• Within the heart of the community
• Designed to support and promote our residents' independence. 

SCC will commission care and support for each individual and this will include:
• Care – help with personal care and daily living tasks in the home
• Support – help to understand and maintain their tenancies, complete household tasks, look after their home, maintain and make use of external space for recreation, engage in social activities, link with the community and secure employment as appropriate

Extra Care Housing works well for many people. Surrey’s existing Extra Care Housing provision has provided accommodation with care and support for many older people over a number of years, enabling them to live as active members of their local communities.

• Extra Care Housing is designed to overcome challenges with our existing accommodation:

• changing resident expectations including high demand for self-contained flats which aren’t always readily available

• older properties which cannot accommodate changes to residents’ care and support needs over time e.g. for wheelchair accessibility and lifts; and

• the need for facilities that maintain privacy and dignity e.g. ensuite bath/shower rooms.

The independent sector is building a limited number of new homes for older people, but they tend to be available on a market-led rental or leased ownership arrangement. This is why there is still insufficient affordable accommodation to meet demand.

With this development, SCC seeks to re-purpose and re-develop an SCC-owned site, to deliver against its large-scale ambitions for accommodation with care and support across Surrey so that everyone has a place they can call home, with appropriate housing for all.

The accommodation is intended for older people in need of care and support to maintain their independence. Some may have a physical disability, sensory impairment or mental health needs.  All potential residents will be assessed to confirm their suitability for Extra Care Housing and to ensure that their care and support needs can be met.

Yes - individuals will need to have eligible care and support needs and be eligible for funding from SCC – so all will be deemed either to reside in Surrey or to have the right to reside in Surrey. 

SCC will consider local connections and as far as possible support people to remain in their communities; however, the primary consideration will centre around offering accommodation that meets the needs of the individual.

Extra Care Housing is designed to be flexible and adaptable, so that residents don’t have to move out of their homes if their needs change. Ideally with care and support, residents will be able to remain for the rest of their lives, and people will only have to consider moving into a care home when their care needs require on-site nursing input to be met.

This location matched Surrey County Council’s key selection criteria for an Extra Care Housing site:

• it’s within easy walking distance of amenities like shops, health services, libraries etc.

• it has good access to public transport routes, so residents and staff don’t have to be reliant on cars

• it balances locality with natural features which will benefit residents and visitors

Yes – all of the accommodation has been designed to meet the latest Building Regulations standards for accessible, adaptable homes.

The development will follow Secured by Design principles for new homes with improvements to suit the specific needs of the residents, e.g. access controls, external security lighting and a video door entry system.

Car parking arrangements will be tailored to meet the needs of the specific residents, staff and visitors.

All parking bays will have electric charging points, designed to meet existing and future demand.

No - the external lighting has been designed to illuminate car parks, paths and gardens in a way that will encourage wildlife etc. whilst still maintaining safety and security for residents.

This will be largely dependent on the needs of the residents. It’s likely that there will be 24hr support for residents with additional care workers attending at key times of day.

Each resident will have their own care and support needs and a care package will be tailored to meet those needs for each individual. One or more care workers will be on site throughout the day and overnight; but it is not possible, at this early stage, to be precise as to staff numbers, attendance rotas and shift patterns as each will depend on the exact needs of the individuals - which may change over time.

Care workers will attend as needed to fulfil individual residents’ support plans. Activity is likely to be greater during the day. There will be peak times for activity, e.g. personal care and breakfast in the morning and dinner and personal care in the evening – but these peak activity periods are less likely to coincide with the school run, for example. Residents will also be out and about, participating in leisure activities and potentially employment, just like any other member of the community.

Overnight vehicular activity will be limited and care workers providing night cover will ordinarily remain on site 10pm - 7am. SCC will work with service providers to ensure that care worker resource is used effectively; and due regard given to minimising disturbance to neighbours, particularly at night.

A Housing/Estate manager will be appointed to maintain the landscaping and residents will be encouraged to participate in gardening as a leisure activity, should they wish to do so.

You can view and comment on the planning application by clicking here

Applications will be welcomed from people who are struggling to keep living at their current home and who really need the affordable housing, care and support offered by Extra Care Housing to remain as independent as possible.

Anyone who applies will have their needs assessed by Surrey County Council. Where that person will clearly benefit from a tenancy in the Extra Care Housing community, their application can be examined for its suitability. Some aspects which will be looked at include:

• How much care and support the person needs to remain independent

• The applicant’s age – individual exceptions can be made where it’s clear that the community would be the best place to help the person to keep living independently

• How urgent the person’s need is to become a tenant

SCC will then decide who can be provided with a tenancy and, if there is a waiting list, who should be prioritised when a flat becomes vacant.

A key focus of Extra Care Housing is providing enjoyable activities for residents. We recognise that to make the development an enjoyable place to live, the management team will work closely with residents and other parties to arrange a variety of activities focused on well-being, engagement, and fun, to maximise residents’ enjoyment of their homes.

The building is up to three storeys tall and has been designed to reduce impact on neighbouring properties. 

Up to 50 much needed new self-contained homes with accompanying communal facilities will be provided on site. 

The Architects have looked at the massing very carefully to make sure the height of the building is in keeping with the character of the area. They have complied with the minimum allowed distance between the buildings and the neighbouring properties. 

As many trees as can be retained, will be retained on the site. Any trees that are removed will be replaced as part of the landscaping plan. 

This proposal was brought to the project teams’ attention by a respondent to this consultation. We have made representations to the local planning authority advising that the 5G mast proposal has not taken int account and may be in conflict with SCC’s development proposals for the Brockhurst site. 

Your Shout has been running sessions like this for many years and our experience is that hosting consultations online makes them more accessible and inclusive. A leaflet was sent to local properties that had information on how to find out more about the proposals including via a dedicated project website. If you would like more information printed out on paper and posted to you, please give us a call on our helpline number. 

The first planning application for this site will be an ‘outline application’. This seeks approval for the principle of the development and for specific details such as access points to the site, the location of the building and the scale and height of the building. The outline application will be submitted to SCC under Regulation 3 of the Town & Country Planning General Regulations 1992, also known as a Regulation 3 Application, because SCC is both the applicant and the decision-making body for the planning application. Residents will be notified that an application has been submitted in the same way as with any other planning application. If outline planning approval for the proposal is granted, further applications will be made for approval of landscaping and external appearance including building materials. These are known as Reserved Matters. 

The residents will not be owners, they will be occupying it under secure tenancies funded by housing benefits. There may be cases where people are not in receipt of housing benefit and may have limited means, but they will pay the same level of rent to ensure it is affordable rent for everyone. 

The proposals include air-source heat pumps which will supply underfloor heating on the apartments. All heating and hot water will be all-electric for sustainability reasons. 

When people apply to live in the development, they will have an assessment of need to determine whether this is the best setting for them from a social care perspective. There will be a strong consideration for local connection, and it is anticipated that most of the residents will be from the local area. Priority will be decided on level of support required, urgency, and local connection. 

The Council’s parking standards works on a worse-case scenario that every flat is occupied by two people. There will be prior agreement and discussion with SCC highways to make sure sufficient suitable parking is provided on the site factoring in the number of residents and staff and the ability of the site to accommodate parking. 

The parking provision will be calculated on the basis that it will accommodate all the parking needed for this development within the confines of the site. However, we are unable to offer guarantees in relation to vehicle being parked on public highways on which parking is not prohibited. 

Your Shout will get this data from its website partner and this information will be included in the Statement of Community Involvement, which is one of the documents to be submitted as part of the planning application. 

Outline planning applications are used to gain an understanding as to whether the nature of a development is acceptable, as this can help ensure viability up front. Specific details known as reserved matters can then be confirmed later, allowing for planning permission to be granted subject to the condition that reserved matters are approved before development begins. SCC is applying for outline planning whilst seeking a development partner who is currently being selected under a tender process. At the reserved matters stage, it will be the development partner’s design that is submitted for approval. The Architects will review the development partner’s proposals to ensure they both comply with the outline planning approval and meet both SCC’s needs and the needs of residents before they become part of a reserved matters application. 

There is an existing fence on the boundary which SCC are seeking to enhance. This will be considered at the next stage of the planning process as part of a reserved matters application. 

SCC are planning to install a number of lifts as well as staircases, to provide redundancy so that if a lift breaks down, there will always be a service to the upper floors. SCC are designing these homes for long-term living so that the flats can be adjusted to accommodate for residents’ changing needs and disabilities after moving in. 

The reason for the flat roof is to allow for the installation of Solar panels. The Architects have concluded that three floors is the most appropriate size considering the distance from neighbouring properties and the number of apartments on site. There are three storey houses in the local area with pitched roofs, so the proposed development is in keeping with the area. 

SCC is in the process of exploring different massing studies and roof shapes and which best accommodates the Solar panels which will form part of their sustainability strategy. 

It is not shown in the landscaping plan that appears on the website, but the intention is to keep all existing planting where possible. There are no plans to remove the remainder of that hedgerow, but there may be a requirement to make it narrower to get everything onto the site. 

Yes. The old nursery/school is a locally listed building rather than a nationally listed building. It has been considered during the design process and there will be a separate heritage report accompanying the application to assess any potential impact on the setting of that building. 

The entire development is wheelchair accessible. There are two lifts in each wing to reach the upper levels. 

The site has been chosen specifically because of its proximity to community facilities, including the village hall, convenience stores, pharmacy, and GP surgery. There are no plans to make any changes to the location of those facilities within the Southern part of the village. There is a zebra crossing point between the local shops, pharmacy, and the village hall at the end of Brox Road. Further transportation planning studies will be undertaken as part of the next stage of the development. 

SCC will design the on-site parking based on the needs of this development. 

SCC has now submitted a planning application for these proposals. Amongst the documents is a Statement of Community Involvement which will document the live events that SCC have held, all the questions raised, and feedback received from local residents and other interested parties. Whether the outline application is sent for consideration considered by SCC’s Planning and Regulatory Committee or determined under delegated powers is dependent on the outcome of the public consultation during the application period. 

Outline planning applications are used to gain an understanding as to whether the nature of a development is acceptable, as this can help ensure viability up front. Specific details known as reserved matters can then be confirmed later, allowing for planning permission to be granted subject to the condition that reserved matters are approved before development begins. 

The homes will be offered on an affordable rental basis with the rent set at a level that can be met by housing benefit. Residents will be occupying the new homes under secure tenancies. There may be cases where people are not in receipt of housing benefit and may have limited means, but they will pay the same level of rent to ensure the homes are affordable for everyone. Unfortunately, it is too early to give a figure on how much the rent will be as housing benefit varies by location and is set regionally with periodic adjustments by government.