The council’s new cabinet is being asked to agree a plan to spend about £30 million on more than 180 flats at a site in Hove.
The plan, for 300 flats in all, would involve working with the Hyde Group housing association which would take just over 120 of the flats for shared ownership at the northern end of the old Sackville Trading Estate.
If the cabinet approves the plan at its first meeting next week, Hyde is expected to apply to a government agency, Homes England, for a grant towards the cost of the scheme.
The grant would enable Brighton and Hove City Council to keep its share of the costs low enough to charge tenants a “social rent” so that the flats might be truly affordable.
In all, the council and Hyde hope to build 306 flats through their joint venture known as Homes for Brighton and Hove.
Hyde would purchase the site which is next to the Moda complex, in Sackville Road, north of the railway. Moda is nearing completion on a £160 million scheme to build almost 600 flats.
The developer has planning permission to build 260 “extra care” flats to the north but is not now expected to go ahead with those plans.
Instead, Hyde would have to submit a fresh planning application for the new scheme, with the housing association looking to take 123 of the proposed flats while the council would have 183.
Most of the flats would have two bedrooms, with several one-bed flats as part of the mix, while a smaller number would have three bedrooms, according to a report to the cabinet.
The report said: “The council will be responsible for the management of its social rented units and any internal common parts. Hyde will own and manage the shared ownership units and their associated internal common parts.
“Hyde will also retain the freehold interest in the entire block and maintain and manage the exterior, roof, structure and foundations of the building and any external common parts.”
The council would be expected to pay Hyde a proportion of the service charge to cover the management and maintenance costs.
The council would also put up £4.5 million in working capital – half of the £9 million overall requirement. This would be in the form of an interest-free loan to Homes for Brighton and Hove.
The flats for the council to let would be built first and they would be allocated to people on the council’s housing waiting list.
Some 7,500 households are currently on the housing register and almost 1,800 are in emergency and temporary housing.
The council’s joint venture with Hyde was set up with the aim of building at least 1,000 “affordable” homes for low-income working families.
So far, the joint venture has built 346 affordable homes, with 176 of those – more than half – available at social rents at Denman Place, in Coldean, and Clarendon Place, in Portslade.
The 306 flats planned on the Sackville Road site would take the total to 652 – almost two thirds of the way towards the joint venture’s target.
The cabinet is due to reach its decision at a meeting in public at Brighton Town Hall at 2pm on Thursday (27 June). The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
Sounds like Mr Harris has got someone by the short and curlies after the fall of LRM and Ivor C.
It seems on the face of it a strong venture that is really needed. Council, to their credit, have been making quite a lot of moves to increase affordable housing stock, something the city sorely needs.
I’m not entirely convinced on shared ownership at the moment though, they tend to get hit pretty hard by service charges from some horror stories; I’d love to see greater protections legally against unfair increases.
It would be a good idea if these flats were allocated to decent local working people that were struggling to buy. Such as supermarket workers or cleaners. It will just go to drug addicts and cause a new estate which is what has happened with the new block of flats that was part bought by a housing association in Grand Avenue and is now making the lives of those that live nearby a misery.
I get what you mean, I had a similar thought around NHS housing. Councils can’t discriminate like that though. I feel what you’re describing is better solved through stricter tenancy upholding; ASB, which seems to be a common complaint which can translate into more criminal activities, should be dealt with in a more timely manner, in my opinion.
This is UN AGENDA 21.
No more property ownership.
People packed into small flats. The countryside cleared of houses.
15/20 minute areas. No more car ownership.
Green communism
Joanna,
to save me wading through the 351 pages of UN agenda 21 could you specify which clauses relate to your assertions.
To save me wading through the 351 pages of UN agenda 21 could you confirm which clauses relate to your assertions so I can read them for myself…
Wouldn’t it be lovely if all your essential needs are available within a 15 minute walk from your home. Sadly it’s not going to happen
We existed with 15 minute neighbourhoods for centuries.
Each village was its own self sufficient area relying on itself with very little contact with nearby villages due to the difficulties of travel.
Do you think people were making the 8+ mile round trip from Rottingdean to Brighton (and vice versa) on a regular basis? Especially in winter?
I hope with all these flats going up round Hove, that there are going to be more Dr’s surgeries as ours is already over run!
There’s a national shortage of Salaried GPs currently. Big conversation on what that is, which I won’t get into detail right now. I do agree with you though. As more people move into the area, the provision of healthcare and healthcare accessibility should be a strong consideration, especially as low socioecological areas tend to have poorer health, according to most datasets.
To broaden your concept further, I’d suggest expanding that to general healthcare outreach and intelligent resourcing of clinicians, Pharmacists, Community Paramedics, Community Nurses, and making use of spaces such as community centres are all important answers to your challenge.