HOMEOWNERS in Farnham have been urged not to sell their homes to property developers. The call has been made by Farnham and Waverley councillor Chris Mansell amid growing concern about the number of family homes being bought up in the town by development companies. The developers are applying to demolish the original buildings and replace them with multiple-occupation apartments and flats. Councillors and residents fear the new developments threaten to destroy the character of the town and will place a strain on local amenities. Mr Mansell said: "There is widespread and deep concern in south Farnham at the way perfectly usable and marketable early 20th century residential housing is falling into the hands of developers for pulling down and replacing with blocks of flats.  "The government's policy to increase residential housing in the South East is clearly necessary, but to encourage this reckless, indiscriminate cramming on to any site that becomes available on the suburban fringes of town centres such as Farnham is destructive and irresponsible. "It has to be said, and this is not a popular thing to say, that developers, who are inherently opportunistic, will only be able to do this when a householder is willing to sell. The greed starts there. "One way for this to change would be for residents in the suburbs of Farnham to consider selling only to genuine property purchasers and not developers." Mr Mansell suggested that "everyone's favourite example" of the problem he was referring to was Farnham Cloisters in Shortheath Road. "It is not only monstrously out of character with the area, but a clear misjudgement of market demand and people's real needs, if the very poor take-up of its small flats is anything to go by". Campaigners in Farnham say they are being worn down by the wave of applications and appeals being made by the developers. Sophie Lovell, of Abbots Ride, Farnham, said: "This area of south Farnham is being agressively targeted by property developers. As soon as a house goes up for sale, the developers are putting in offers. "It creates a sense of paranoia and unease because people aren't sure which properties have been sold to developers. "The applications are to convert family homes into flats and it threatens to change the entire character of the area- not to mention the problems it will cause with traffic and parking. "As soon as one appeal gets rejected, another appeal is put in and people are becoming increasingly weary of the constant fight against these applications. "These companies aren't interested in providing housing. They are interested in making large amounts of money. "All of the groups involved in fighting these applications need to pull together to create a co-ordinated response to try to protect the town." One Surrey-based company, Premier Properties, currently has plans to demolish three properties in south Farnham and replace them with apartments. All three applications were initially turned down by Waverley Borough Council but appeals have since been lodged - one of which has already been granted. The application granted is for the demolition of a property at 58, Waverley Lane, and the building of a10-flat development. The developer is also involved in proposals to redevelop the sites of another house very close by in Waverley Lane, and of a house in Little Green Lane. The goverment is putting increasing pressure on councils to increase the amount of available housing, especially in the south east of England. Susan Farrow, chairman of Farnham Town Council's environmental services committee, said: "This is an extremely serious problem for Farnham and the consequences for the town could be far reaching. "I still regard Farnham as a rural market town and care has to be taken that we don't lose an essential element of the town's character. "The applications are being turned down by Waverley and then being accepted on appeal and I can fully appreciate how residents who have campaigned against these applications are starting to become dispirited. "The town council is battling as hard as it can to address this problem." A spokeswoman for Waverley Council said the problem was not unique to Farnham and there is a similar situation in most parts of the country. She said that members faced a difficult task in balancing the need for new housing with the impact on the character of the area.