Housing campaigner quizzes council on affordable housing in Brighton and Hove

Charles Harrison asked councillors how “affordable housing” related to average household incomes in Brighton and Hove.

He also asked what Brighton and Hove City Council was doing to increase the number of lower-cost homes when the council’s Housing and New Homes Committee met last week.

Mr Harrison, who has been involved with various community groups from Hove Gold to Sussex Homeless Support, spoke out as the council’s “draft housing strategy” went before the committee on Wednesday 13 March.

A report to councillors about the strategy said: “Achieving the right mix of market and affordable housing types is challenging. Pressure on land for development is high and many potential sites are hard to develop.

“We need to increase the supply of high-quality homes that meet the needs of our communities. We will work to increase the number of affordable homes using the full range of levers at our disposal.”

Mr Harrison asked what was meant by the “full range of levers”.

He was told that the national policy for “affordable homes” was that they were let for a rent at least 20 per cent below the local market rate.

Labour councillor Gill Williams, who chairs the council’s Housing and New Homes Committee, said: “I don’t personally consider them particularly affordable but that is the national benchmark.

“In somewhere like Brighton and Hove, that’s pretty high as we all know because the rents are quite high in the private sector.”

Councillor Williams said that housing associations and other registered housing providers were asked to restrict rents to “housing allowance level” which was equivalent to housing benefit.

She said: “We do encourage registered providers where possible to provide homes at social rent if they can.

“We look at the same for our own supply of council homes and we appreciate that affordable rents of 80 per cent are outside of many people’s affordability in our city so it’s not that affordable.

“I’m very pleased to say our new development in Coldean, Denham Place, is an excellent example of where we’ve been able to provide 127 homes at social rent, my favourite rent. That’s the one we should have more of. I’m pleased about that.”

Councillor Williams said that there was a need for more affordable housing through private sector developments too.

New residents on the council’s housing register will start moving into the new flats in Coldean during the next month.

As well as building new homes in Coldean and Portslade, the council has started the tendering process for 200 more than new council homes on a site in Moulsecoomb.