Your council

Guildford: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Guildford Borough Council: Non-metropolitan district (lower tier), England, South East; within the county of SRY. GOV.UK lists it as a district council, within Surrey County Council. ONS code E07000209.

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Band D set by Guildford for 2026–27: £210.19 of a £2,547.30 total bill in the area. MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Open Government Licence).

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Changes to schools in this area recorded by the Department for Education Updated automatically

No school here is currently recorded as proposed to open or close.

In the last twelve months: 3 opened (3 academy converter), 3 closed (3 academy converter)

Get Information about Schools, DfE’s register of every school in England, refreshed daily (Open Government Licence). The register’s own reason is shown: most closures and openings are a school becoming an academy, which changes who runs it, not whether it is there.

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s table has no figures for Guildford for 2026–27: “RA return not received in time for publication.” The table

Guildford in numbers

Official statistics for the whole council area. Each figure is the latest published, with the period it covers.

Total population
151,359 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age
38 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head
£37,380 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay
£752 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs
14.2% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsPercentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
Claimant Count
1.9% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price
£532,917 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based)
10.6 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Greenhouse gas emissions
4.6 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband
81.8% 1 January 2026 · OfcomPercentage of premises that have coverage from a gigabit-capable service (download speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more)
Public electric vehicle chargers
182.3 per 100,000 population 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublicly available electric vehicle chargers at all speeds per 100,000 people
Active businesses
7,670 number of enterprises 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with turnover or employment in current year

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

48 seats in 2026. Run by: Liberal Democrats, as a minority administration. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Liberal Democrats 25, Independent / Other 10, Conservative and Unionist 10, Labour Party 3.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 48 councillors, by ward
  • David Shaw (Independent / Other) — Ash South
  • Sue Wyeth-Price (Independent / Other) — Ash South
  • Carla Morson (Liberal Democrats) — Ash Vale
  • Richard Lucas (Liberal Democrats) — Ash Vale
  • Fiona White (Liberal Democrats) — Ash Wharf
  • Phil Bellamy (Liberal Democrats) — Ash Wharf
  • Amanda Creese (Labour Party) — Bellfields & Slyfield
  • James Walsh (Labour Party) — Bellfields & Slyfield
  • George Potter (Liberal Democrats) — Burpham
  • Jane Tyson (Liberal Democrats) — Burpham
  • Geoff Davis (Conservative and Unionist) — Castle
  • Maddy Redpath (Independent / Other) — Castle
  • Richard Mills (Conservative and Unionist) — Castle
  • Catherine Young (Independent / Other) — Clandon & Horsley
  • Dawn Bennett (Independent / Other) — Clandon & Horsley
  • Ruth Brothwell (Independent / Other) — Clandon & Horsley
  • Merel Rehorst-Smith (Liberal Democrats) — Effingham
  • Joanne Shaw (Liberal Democrats) — Merrow
  • Joss Bigmore (Independent / Other) — Merrow
  • Yves de Contades (Liberal Democrats) — Merrow
  • David Bilbe (Conservative and Unionist) — Normandy & Pirbright
  • Keith Witham (Conservative and Unionist) — Normandy & Pirbright
  • Angela Goodwin (Liberal Democrats) — Onslow
  • James Steel (Liberal Democrats) — Onslow
  • Steven Lee (Liberal Democrats) — Onslow
  • Matt Furniss (Conservative and Unionist) — Pilgrims
  • Sallie Barker (Conservative and Unionist) — Pilgrims
  • James Brooker (Independent / Other) — Send & Lovelace
  • Jason Fenwick (Independent / Other) — Send & Lovelace
  • Patrick Oven (Independent / Other) — Send & Lovelace
  • Catherine Houston (Liberal Democrats) — Shalford
  • Dominique Williams (Liberal Democrats) — Shalford
  • Tom Hunt (Liberal Democrats) — St Nicolas
  • Cait Taylor (Liberal Democrats) — Stoke
  • Stephen Hives (Liberal Democrats) — Stoke
  • Vanessa King (Liberal Democrats) — Stoke
  • Gillian Harwood (Liberal Democrats) — Stoughton North
  • Lizzie Griffiths (Liberal Democrats) — Stoughton North
  • Katie Steel (Liberal Democrats) — Stoughton South
  • Masuk Miah (Liberal Democrats) — Stoughton South
  • Bob Hughes (Conservative and Unionist) — Tillingbourne
  • Danielle Newson (Liberal Democrats) — Tillingbourne
  • Howard Smith (Labour Party) — Westborough
  • Julia McShane (Liberal Democrats) — Westborough
  • Sandy Lowry (Liberal Democrats) — Westborough
  • Bilal Akhtar (Conservative and Unionist) — Worplesdon
  • Honor Brooker (Conservative and Unionist) — Worplesdon
  • Philip Brooker (Conservative and Unionist) — Worplesdon

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.