Proposals for first housing joint venture sites go on show

Development proposals for first two ‘Homes for Brighton & Hove’ sites go on show later this month.

Homes for Brighton & Hove, a partnership between Brighton & Hove City Council and the Hyde Group, has been set up to create 1,000 new homes for rent and sale for low to medium income, local working households in the city.

The first sites identified for development are on land adjacent to North Varley Halls in Coldean and on the site of former Belgrave Day Centre in Clarendon Place, Portslade. Over 200 homes are proposed for the Coldean site and around 100 for Portslade.

Residents are being invited to look at the early designs and share their views at public exhibitions and on Hyde’s website. The feedback will help shape the next stage of design for both sites.

• For the Coldean proposals, residents can go along to the The Larches Café, New Larchwood, Waldron Avenue, Brighton, BN1 9EZ between 4 and 8pm on Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 July. The proposals will also be available to see and comment upon at www.hyde-housing.co.uk/coldean from 16 to 30 July.
• For the Portslade proposals, residents can go along to the CityCoast Centre, North Street, Portslade, BN41 1DG between 4 and 8pm on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 July. The proposals will be available to see and comment upon online at www.hyde-housing.co.uk/portslade from 16 to 30 July.

By working together through the Homes for Brighton & Hove joint venture, Hyde and the council aim to speed up the delivery of new homes.

The aim is to build 1,000 new homes over the next five years – 500 homes for rent set to be affordable to working Brighton & Hove residents earning the new National Living Wage, and 500 available to buy though shared ownership.

Councillor Anne Meadows, chair of the Housing & New Homes Committee, said: “Homes for Brighton & Hove is the biggest commitment to build low cost housing in the city for a generation. It’s taken a lot of work to get to this point and it’s great to see the first sites moving forward.

“With the supply of housing not keeping pace with demand in the city, building new low cost homes for local people is a key priority for us. Alongside our New Homes for Neighbourhoods programme building new council housing, the joint venture will deliver decent and genuinely affordable homes for local residents and create a significant number of jobs and apprenticeships.”

Tom Shaw, Operations Director at the Hyde Group said: “Homes for Brighton & Hove is a really innovative joint venture which allows us to deliver genuinely affordable homes for people living in the city. We are delighted to be at this stage and are looking forward to sharing our exciting plans for these sites with local residents.”

Hyde and Brighton & Hove City Council are equally funding the project, with each partner investing 50% of the total cost into Homes for Brighton & Hove. The council will use receipts from the sale of properties and will also get a loan from the Public Works Loan Board to fund their share so there will be no impact on existing council budgets.