Residents have right to return to revamped flats

People living in tower blocks under threat of demolition will keep their social housing tenancies and have the right to return when they are redeveloped, a council meeting heard.

Senior housing officials were quizzed about the future of the eight tower blocks, that contain a a total of 558 flats, at a Brighton & Hove City Council meeting on Tuesday.

Councillors were told that doing nothing was not an option and redevelopment would need to start within five years.

Gill Williams, the council's cabinet member for housing, said: "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."

The eight tower blocks are Dudeney Lodge and Nettleton Court in Hollingdean, St James' House in Kemptown, and Falcon Court, Heron Court, Kestrel Court, Kingfisher Court and Swallow Court in Whitehawk.

People living in the blocks will continue to pay a "social rent", Williams says.

The councillor added: "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."

Williams said the redevelopment programme would aim to increase the number of council homes overall.

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

Darren Levy, the council's director of housing and regeneration, said the local authority was aiming to start consulting on its rehousing policy in January and to start the process by the end of 2026.

Anne Meadows, a former chair of the housing committee, said she believed it would take eight years for the new homes to be ready.

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

A report on the proposals for the eight blocks is due to go before the council's cabinet on 17 July.

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