In a meeting on Tuesday 22 April 2025, Natalie Bramhall, Cabinet Member for Property, Waste and Infrastructure, approved the disposal of 30 St Martins Close, East Horsley, Leatherhead, KT24 6SU following an open market campaign. As part of the transaction, Surrey County Council will accept a surrender of the head lease currently held by House of Garton Residential Ltd (HGR).

Disposal of 30 St Martins Close, East Horsley, Leatherhead

Natalie Bramhall, Cabinet Member for Property, Waste and Infrastructure, approved recommendations for the disposal of 30 St Martins Close, including formally declaring the property as surplus to operational requirements.

The property, a three-bedroom terraced house in East Horsley, was previously transferred to HGR under a 40-year lease in August 2020. It became vacant on 13 January 2025. The report seeking approval for the disposal noted that the HGR Board requested the property be handed back to the council and sold, as the council has no operational requirements for it.

Following an open marketing campaign conducted by residential marketing agents Curchods, terms were agreed to sell the freehold interest. The sale is conditional on the simultaneous surrender of the headlease held by HGR, which has been agreed by the HGR Board. A premium will be paid to HGR from the gross capital receipt of the sale to reflect its surrender value.

The report outlined several recommendations, all of which were approved:

1. Formally declare the asset surplus to operational requirements, in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leader.
2. Approve the sale of the property to the party, at the price and subject to the conditions, noted in the Part 2 report, conditional upon the simultaneous surrender of the headlease held by HGR.
3. Approve the HGR premium for the surrender of its interest from the gross receipt, noting that there is debt aligned to this asset, with both parties bearing their own costs and appointments of their own professional team.
4. Delegate authority to the Executive Director for Environment, Property, and Growth, in consultation with the Director of Land and Property, to finalise the transaction and enter into all associated legal agreements.

The report also addressed risk management, identifying potential risks such as the purchaser withdrawing from the purchase, void costs, mortgage-ability and funding, net-zero carbon targets, and survey issues. Mitigating actions were outlined for each risk.

The Section 151 Officer¹ commented on the financial implications, noting that the proposal supports the wider strategy for asset rationalisation and the capital receipt supports the funding of the capital programme. The Monitoring Officer² confirmed the council's powers to pursue the proposals under Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972, which allows local authorities to dispose of property for the best consideration reasonably obtainable. The report stated that a full Equality Impact Assessment was not needed, as the proposed disposal does not impact adversely on any specific parties.