Council Facing £500m Demolition And Rebuild Challenge

People living in tower blocks under threat of demolition will keep their social housing tenancies and have the right to return when their homes have been redeveloped.

Councillors were given the assurances at Brighton and Hove City Council’s Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, when senior housing officials were quizzed about the future of eight blighted blocks.

At the meeting yesterday (Tuesday 1 July), councillors were told that doing nothing was not an option and redevelopment would need to start within five years, hence the process was starting now.

The eight tower blocks contain 558 flats in total. They are Dudeney Lodge and Nettleton Court, in Hollingdean, St James’ House, in Kemp Town, and Falcon Court, Heron Court, Kestrel Court, Kingfisher Court and Swallow Court, in Whitehawk.

People living in the blocks will also continue to a “social rent”, Labour councillor Gill Williams, the council’s cabinet member for housing and new homes, said.

Most residents have received visits and attended drop-in events. They are sent a regular newsletter about what is due to happen next.

Labour councillor Theresa Fowler, who represents Hollingdean and Fiveways, said that she went to an engagement meeting for residents in Dudeney Lodge and Nettleton Court and was concerned about how residents felt.

Councillor Fowler said:

“I hope they (the residents) are made to feel happy about this because believe it or not they absolutely love living in Nettleton and Dudeney.

“One resident had only just moved in and was really disappointed this was going to happen to him. Another has lived there 35 years.

“Her worry was going to up and go after living there for 35 years and, after being able to look out over beautiful views, she would be put somewhere dark and dingy.

"She’s had sleepless nights.”

Councillor Fowler also said that she was concerned about people losing touch with their friends when they are moved on.

Councillor Williams said:

“It is very distressing. There’s no doubt about it. We do and we will be proceeding with compassion and care because this is very emotional and there are a lot of ties to the area and their homes.

“Each resident gets an individual visit to assess their needs and we will be careful where we can to be able to place people in a similar area in similar types of accommodation that they are used to.”

She said that it might not always be possible but the council would work closely with residents on their needs.

Conservative councillor Anne Meadows recalled her sister’s home in Whitehawk, which had an outside toilet, which was demolished as part of the extensive redevelopment of the estate in the 1970s.

Councillor Meadows said:

“Hundreds of homes were demolished. They were put up in Portslade in beautiful modern homes. But my sister hated it because she was away from her friends and neighbours. She also preferred being near the town centre.

“I’m pleased to hear you’re taking this sort of thing into consideration.”

Councillor Meadows, a former chair of the Housing Committee, said that in her experience it would take eight years for new homes to be ready because council projects such as new homes in Portslade had taken that long.

The committee was told that the 558 households included people living in 90 leasehold flats and 45 housed by Seaside Homes housing association.

Council households have been given the second-highest priority, band B, for seeking new homes in Brighton and Hove.

Councillor Williams said that the buildings were safe and maintenance would continue.

Committee members were told that structural work and buying back leasehold flats would cost a combined £166 million, which would take up a big chunk of the five-year housing revenue account (HRA) budget of £297 million.

Any works would last up to 20 years which was why the council was looking at redeveloping the eight sites with new homes that should last 60 years, starting with St James’ House in Kemp Town, followed by the Hollingdean blocks and then those in Whitehawk.

The council’s director of housing and regeneration Darren Levy said:

“We’ve scheduled in January as the target date for consulting on the rehousing policy with a set up team in place – and then by the end of next year to begin the process with Hollingdean and the following year in Whitehawk.

“We need to phase it that way for us to manage the programme but we also need to be cognisant of the wider impact on the housing waiting list.

“I’ve been on site quite a lot and the message I have from residents is similar: people are rooted in their communities and they really like where they live.”

He said that the focus would be on keeping people within their community as far as possible.

An over-arching programme to redevelop all eight sites completely would be phased, should the cabinet approve, and would be likely to cost more than £500 million.

Councillor Williams said that the redevelopment programme would aim to increase the number of council homes overall but she had heard from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government that no money was available.

A report on the proposals for the eight blocks is due to go before the council’s cabinet on Thursday 17 July. The meeting is scheduled to be webcast.