A DEVELOPER has submitted plans for a new development of 16 “truly affordable” homes for key workers on land west of Hedgehog Lane in Haslemere.

Tony Lawson says the homes will be ‘affordable’ by his own definition, and made available to essential workers for just 50 per cent of their real market value.

He told the Herald the plans were submitted to Waverley Borough Council this week, although they are yet to be validated and so cannot yet be viewed online.

It represents Mr Lawson’s latest attempt to develop the Hedgehog Lane site, and comes after a campaign group was set up to fight plans for 29 houses in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) at the adjacent Longdene House.

Mr Lawson also has outline planning consent to build 132 houses in the AONB at neighbouring Sturt Farm.

Presenting his latest proposals in an ‘applicant statement’ sent to Waverley this week, and shared with the Herald, Mr Lawson wrote: “At desperate times such as these, no-one questions the value of our essential workers.

“Yet the very same people we depend on for our general well-being and even our very lives, more often than not, cannot afford to buy a home in the communities they serve.

“They are forced to commute long distances to work, or rent pricey flats, without ever having the chance to get their foot on the housing ladder.

“Monkhill Ltd, the Haslemere-based company, is donating land, free of all costs, to a new housing trust focused on providing truly affordable homes.

“At other times, councillors’ have complained the usual ‘20 per cent affordable discount’, on an already expensive new home, is insufficient. Here, there is a massive 50 per cent discount to the open market price.

“With prices starting at £99,000, home ownership is more than achievable for the identified group.”

He added to qualify for the homes, applicants must work within the borough of Waverley or at one of the hospitals serving the area.