Councillors have backed spending almost £20 million to buy out up to 44 homeowners in eight tower blocks blighted by safety concerns.
Brighton and Hove City Council cabinet members were told that more than 500 households living in the eight “large panel system” blocks built in the 1960s and 1970s had received home visits and attended drop-in sessions.
At the cabinet meeting at Hove Town Hall yesterday (Thursday 20 March), councillors agreed to spend up to £18.8 million over five years on buying out the leaseholders of 44 flats.
The eight tower blocks contain 559 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.
They were built with pre-cast concrete. The blocks relied on walls rather than columns as the main load-bearing parts and are at greater risk from fires, explosions and high winds than more modern flats.
Labour councillor Gill Williams, the council’s cabinet member for housing and new homes, said that officials had visited every household living in the blocks and had held regular drop-in sessions providing advice and support.
Councillor Williams said: “There’s ongoing dialogue with the Regulator of Social Housing and the Building Safety Regulator ensuring they remain informed of any actions and process.
“Buyers can no longer secure a mortgage for properties within those blocks and this limited the options for those leaseholders who may want to move or to sell their properties.
“Any long-term solution for those blocks is likely to require full or partial vacating of the building for those people that live there at the moment.
“It is a difficult position for them and that is recognised.”
Flats sold to tenants exercising their “right to buy” can be bought back by the council.
Extra safety measures had been put in place, the council said, in addition to the long-standing ban on gas canisters and barbecues.
These included a temporary ban on e-bikes and e-scooters, with alternative off-site storage having been made available including power supplies for recharging.
All eight blocks have a mix of on-site security staff and closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to try to prevent people from taking banned items into the buildings.
The Chapel Street car park under St James’ House is closed – and parking has also been suspended under the Whitehawk blocks and in the garages behind Dudeney Lodge and Nettleton Court.
The owners of 44 flats could receive about £300,000 each.
This would cover the cost of the council buying their flat from them as well as funding their bills for surveyors and legal work plus any mortgage redemption fees and stamp duty.
For 23 of the leaseholders, who still live in the flats that they own, the package would also cover their removal costs.
The total bill for this part of the programme could reach just over £13 million, with the council facing its own costs, while building in an amount for contingencies.
The programme costs also include funding for the initial feasibility work on the future of the eight high-rise buildings.
I think they should repeal “The Right To Buy Act”.
Even if a couple of Council properties are saved via this act it’s got to be worth it in the long run. Before the election, we could post a question on our local Facebook community noticeboard, and I asked about this act being abolished. I seem to remember getting a lot of stick, such as “That boat’s sailed” etc. If it stops 1 council property from being sold, it’s surely got to be a saver long term.
I agree- no point in building new social housing only to sell it off on the cheap. Especially given the lack of development space here.
I agree with you as well. Even, as a measured approach, suspend Right to Buy when council waiting lists reach a certain level, as a minimum service level. Would allow dynamic control when housing stock is more plentiful whilst restricting it when they are scarce.
I think the Council has acted decently here. I am sure they were sold in good faith and the council is not really liable for the original design or any wear and tear. These prefab buildings were a cheap and expedient solution to a housing crisis many years ago. I am not sure what the projected lifespan of them is or was for that matter.
I think you make a good point. They are old designs and buildings, over half a century old, that most likely are or will be at their end of life.
Getting rid of these ugly 60s tower blocks around Brighton has to be a good thing. They are a blot on the landscape – less seaside resort and more inner city. Hope they are replaced with something that better suits the town and its future aspirations – and that those who reside in them can find safer and more attractive places to live .
Council tenants will be decanted into separate properties, and with £300k in the bank, Leaseholders have done very well for themselves out of this.
aoriginally pre fab in the UK was built by Kampsax, a Danish company, later Christiani & Neilsen then left 12 years ago, 50 years is correct as per Danish, but they have doing remedial work in Denmark for 20 years, I used to build and repair, various countries
Great to see BHCC finally getting the ball rolling to get this sorted. However, all of Stanmer Heights and most of Craven Vale are effectively unsafe due to high alumina cement issues, but that’s for another day. B&HNews serial dullard commenter Benjamin, don’t t reply to this, get out and try and get a life
It is heartening to know you think about me, evidentially not too dull then. I had completely forgotten about you, I’m afraid! It’s a bit grey outside today, but pleasant enough.
I don’t know too much about HAC, my understanding is that it was a 50s building material, alluding to the age of Brighton’s buildings again. From what I understand, the metastable hydrates of the cement change to their stable form over decades, leading to an increase in porosity and a reduction in strength.
Just makes the argument that the aging buildings will need to be phased out, ideally as planned works.
Let the buyer beware, an outrage that the council is using our money to bail out the money grabbing scum who have bought the leases in these blocks. You buy a leasehold at your own risk
Hardly. I’d rather someone wasn’t out of pocket for a problem that wasn’t their fault.
£300,000 for a flat in one of Brighton’s less desirable residences ! I wouldn’t give you tuppence
Ok. Well, that’s the going rate…so…what’s your point?