Places for People has been selected by Surrey County Council as its partner in a real estate deal expected to last 15 years. The joint venture comes at a challenging time for the council, which along with other local authorities has been hard hit by government cuts. It is expected that the venture will help it meet savings targets of £250 million (US$319,53 million) over the next three years.

Back in December, places for people was originally approved as Surrey County Council's 50/50 partner, following the government’s decision to allow councils to unlock public land for housing, whilst also creating assets with income potential.

In July 31, when the contract notice was announced, the council had an initial tranche of 32 sites, adding that other interested authorities had indicated a further range of more than 100 sites, by establishing additional partnerships as subsidiaries to the main entity, with the potential for more than 5,000 residential units to be delivered.