Two linked towers of 16 and 24 storeys with 585 units are proposed for cleared land off Chobham Road. No affordable housing is committed. Comments close 8 September.
Plans for two linked towers of 16 and 24 storeys in Woking town centre are open for public comment until Tuesday 8 September. The application would put 585 units on the cleared site bound by Church Street East, Chobham Road and Christchurch Way, in Canalside ward.
Woking Borough Council validated the application, reference PLAN/2026/0552, on 14 August. Its determination deadline is 13 November 2026. Site notices went up on 20 August at four points around the site, including Wells Plaza and the junction of Chobham Road and Church Street East.
The applicant’s own Planning and Affordable Housing Statement sets out what the 585 units are:
- 460 co-living units, studios of at least 25 square metres, in the Sui Generis use class
- 125 residential apartments, one-bedroom flats of 37 to 43 square metres, in Use Class C3
- three commercial units at ground floor level
The scheme would be car-free. Cycle parking goes in the basement, reached by a dedicated cycle lift from Christchurch Way. Two servicing areas are proposed, one on Chobham Road and one on Christchurch Way.
No affordable housing is committed
The application commits to no affordable homes. The statement gives two reasons.
First, the applicant argues that co-living does not count. Because the 460 studios sit in the Sui Generis use class rather than Use Class C3, the statement says they do “not constitute conventional self-contained housing for the purposes of affordable housing calculations under Policy CS12”.
Second, the applicant points to viability. On the 125 conventional flats, the statement says only that it “continues to review the scheme’s viability and affordable housing position”, and that any provision “will ultimately need to be considered in the context of development viability”.
The statement also leans on what planners call a fallback. The site already has permission, reference PLAN/2023/0835, for an office-led building of up to 11 storeys. That scheme would deliver no housing and no affordable housing at all, which the applicant offers as the realistic alternative if this one is refused.
Policy CS12 of the Woking Core Strategy asks qualifying residential schemes to provide affordable housing on site, unless exceptional circumstances justify something else.
An independent panel would not commend it
The application includes the report of the Design South East design review panel, an independent body that reviewed the scheme at the Civic Offices on 17 February this year. Its verdict, dated 3 March, was blunt.
“We cannot commend the scheme in its current iteration,” the panel wrote. It cited “insufficient information on the impact of the buildings’ height and massing on the townscape”, and no justification for how the height and mass are distributed across the site.
The panel made seven recommendations. Among its concerns:
- The development and its public realm “do not yet integrate with, respond to or enhance Woking Town Centre, its history or existing community and activity”
- The arrival sequence and internal circulation are “uncomfortable and overly complex”
- The homes may not be “sufficiently high-quality living spaces for permanent homes”
- The material palette and elevations “lack simplicity and coherence”
It also flagged the use itself, warning of “the risk of an insular, self-contained development that draws activity away from the rest of the town centre”, given how much co-living is already going into the town centre.
The panel did commend the car-free approach, though it said walking and cycling were “not sufficiently promoted or celebrated”. It asked for the cycle store to be moved up to ground level as a visible community amenity, rather than buried in the basement.
What changed between the review and the application
The scheme the panel saw is not the scheme now on the register. The panel reviewed a 27-storey north tower and a 15-storey south tower, with 574 units. The submitted application has a 24-storey north building and a 16-storey south building, with 585 units.
So the tall tower came down three storeys, the shorter one went up one, and the unit count rose by 11.
How it compares with the rest of the town centre
Woking town centre already has consent for several taller buildings. The applicant cites Crown Place at up to 28 storeys, the Crown Gardens scheme on the former BHS site opposite at up to 26, and Technology House on Goldsworth Road at up to 25. Crown Place sits within 50 metres of this site.
The applicant argues the site’s existing 11-storey office permission already settles the principle of a tall building here. It says the extra height is needed to give the co-living model enough residents to pay for its shared facilities.
Its market case is that more than 3,500 people aged roughly 25 to 39 are looking for this kind of accommodation in Woking. It also names the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, whose Woking students currently have to find rooms in Guildford, and puts the academy’s first-year need at around 250 studios.
What it means for you
To comment, you have until Tuesday 8 September 2026. Comments go through the application page on the council’s planning register. A few things worth knowing before you write:
- Comments are published on the register, with your name and address supplied to the council. Anonymous comments carry little weight.
- Planning officers weigh matters such as height, daylight, overlooking, traffic, design and policy. They cannot weigh loss of a private view or the effect on your property value.
- The deadline is for neighbour consultation. Late comments are usually still read if they arrive before the decision, but there is no guarantee.
If you want to read the evidence first, the register carries more than 80 documents. Among them:
- a daylight and sunlight report, and a separate internal daylight report
- a wind microclimate analysis
- verified views and a townscape and visual impact assessment
- a heritage assessment
- the design review panel report, filed under Reports
A decision is not due before 13 November 2026. Consultees including Heathrow Airport, NATS Safeguarding, UK Power Networks and Affinity Water have already responded, and public comments have started to appear on the register.
More on how the system works, and how to track a case: our guide to Woking planning applications.
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