A teenage campaigner has called on Brighton and Hove City Council to find more small sites to build social housing.
Scarlett Chapman, 15, is trying to rally the community in Woodingdean to support the council’s plans to build four family-sized houses on a small plot in Cowley Drive.
Miss Chapman spoke for a delegation from community group Mission:HOME to a meeting of the full council at Hove Town Hall on Thursday (29 January), arguing for social housing on “micro sites”.
She started campaigning and raising money to support the homeless when she first noticed people sleeping rough when she was eight years old.
What shocked her even more was discovering the hidden homeless, families living in temporary housing, many for up to eight years. But she has even come across people who have spent 15 years in temporary housing.
She said: “The problem isn’t just how many homes we build – it’s how long families are asked to wait.
“Small, under-used council-owned sites offer a huge opportunity to move faster. These small pockets of land might not look much but they can become forever homes far more quickly than large developments.
“The longer these sites stay unused, the more the number of families in need of a home goes up.”
Through the group Mission:HOME, Miss Chapman is encouraging people to support the council’s planning application to the South Downs National Park Authority to build four family homes in Cowley Drive.
Since starting the campaign, she has found that people are more receptive to the idea of new homes when they learn that almost 3,000 local parents and children are classed as homeless because they live in temporary housing.
According to figures released by the council in October, more than 1,400 of those in homeless households are children.
Labour councillor Gill Williams, the council’s cabinet member for housing, said that the local authority had a good track record of creating and building new homes on “micro sites” through its Hidden Homes project to convert unused spaces into housing.
Councillor Williams said: “Encouraging residents to agree to comment and to welcome it is really important to get this development on the go.
“We’ve got a few more that we could do with your help with within your area as well.”
At the time of writing, there were more than 110 comments in support of the planning application on the national park website.
Many posted anonymously or with details redacted through the Mission:HOME campaign website.
Labour councillor Jacob Allen, who represents Woodingdean ward, Safe Haven Sussex head of service Sophia Papanicolaou and Off The Fence chief executive Julio Abraham wrote supporting comments.
Councillor Allen said: “This kind of approach to slot in new homes where feasible is a good way of making real progress on delivering homes while avoiding over-development or compromising local character.”
Mr Abraham and Ms Papanicolaou said: “We believe the proposed homes at Cowley Drive represent a proportionate and appropriate response to acute housing need and that the public benefits of the scheme outweigh the limited impacts associated with a development of this modest scale.”
There were also three objections, one of which was anonymised on the national park website.
Cowley Drive resident Gina Masero raised concerns about flooding and the small size of the site.
She said: “I do not understand why this small site would be chosen to house so few people in need when I believe there must be larger sites more suitable to address this situation for housing.
“I recently read that Brighton General Hospital was no longer in need of all its site. Could this large site not be utilised by the council?”
Georgina Cutler, from Newhaven, said: “Not enough is being done to protect the local environment from housing developers.
“I would like to see a complete list of priority brownfield sites that developers have to choose from rather than cherry-picking plots of land that bring the best profits to them.”
To view the application, search for SDNP/25/04862/FUL on the South Downs National Park website.
Affordable housing for who?
Those in local housing need who’ve been on the council waiting list for 10 years?
Some of us have been campaigning to save the Brighton General for community housing and workspace use for nearly a decade now, so Ms Chapman is somewhat late to the party.
If you actually read the article, she proposes social housing not affordable homes. As for her being “somewhat late to the party,” she is 15 years of age. If only so many children were as socially engaged & proactive as she appears to be then our society would be a better place. Congratulations and good luck to her and her campaigning.
Hi Ann, thanks so much for your kind words of encouragement. The planning portal is open for comment until tonight.
If you’d like to leave a comment of support, we’ve made it really easy – takes 30 seconds – http://www.missionhome.org.uk/watch
Equally, you’re welcome to sign up to email updates from us.
Regards
MH
Shame on you James, for attempting to delegitimise a young campaigner, who should, by all accounts, be praised for her initiative and being socially invested, making efforts to actively improve Brighton. We should be supporting our young people and ensure their passions are given a voice.
Hi Benjamin – words of support like this mean a huge amount to Scarlett and our team – we’re very grateful.
If you’d like to leave a comment of support, we’ve made it really easy – takes 30 seconds – http://www.missionhome.org.uk/watch
Equally, you’re welcome to sign up to email updates from us.
Regards
MH
Delegitimise a young campaigner? It is of course admirable that Miss Chapman is taking such an interest, but how much does she really know about local housing issues at 15 and three years below the age of voting majority, neither old enough to rent or buy? Does Ms Chapman know that Cllr Leader Sankey has recently housed 42 Afghan families, no problems? What are her thoughts on who should take priority if new council houses are built? This is not a subject for the fainthearted as seasoned local housing campaigners can tell her.
Repeatedly questioning a 15-year-old’s legitimacy to campaign because of her age, voting status, or personal housing history is disingenuous.
Miss Chapman is supported by an established campaign group and has put forward a concrete proposal. Using her age to imply she should not be speaking is gatekeeping, so again, shame on you for trying to delegitimise a young campaigner.
Personally, I am proud to see a young person engaging seriously with one of Brighton’s biggest challenges, and my organisations have already pledged support for her work. I hope she continues to be a force for good in the city.
I think you’ll find it’s her father behind her, trying to turn his daughter into the Greta Thunberg of local housing and make some money out of her along the way. I’ve met him. He is very ambitious for her indeed.
Nothing against Ms Chapman, but she IS only 15 and as a legal child, cannot be permitted more influence over local housing decisions than the voting adults and genuine professionals in the room. This is not a school project.
Hi James, thanks very much for your comments. Mission: HOME is seeking the addition of more social housing, available at social rents, by encouraging the council to build on their smaller, under utilised sites. Wishing you all the best, MH.
The councils are going to need all the help they can get as the government have just introduced new taxes for Landlords and regulations so my Landlord gave me notice (and 7 others) as he’s selling up even though there’s a shortage of properties …believe it’s happening everywhere. He blames Shelter!
Landlords are being squeezed from all sides including many good ones. They will soon be forced to get all properties up to a C eco rating, which is impossible in up to sixty percent of older properties. So even more mass homelessness is about to be caused. By the government. And this is being endorsed by idiotic housing charities who think they are helping tenants, when they are helping them one way. Onto the streets.
Hi James, The planning portal is open for comment until tonight.
If you’d like to leave a comment of support, we’ve made it really easy – takes 30 seconds – http://www.missionhome.org.uk/watch
Equally, you’re welcome to sign up to email updates from us.
Regards
MH
And who are they being brought by Ali?
Hi Ali, thanks so much for your comments. The planning portal is open for comment until tonight.
If you’d like to leave a comment of support, we’ve made it really easy – takes 30 seconds – http://www.missionhome.org.uk/watch
Equally, you’re welcome to sign up to email updates from us.
Regards
MH
Microsites are a good option, filling in gaps that are underutilised. They won’t solve a housing crisis overnight, and nor should they be expected to, however, it’s all part of the larger puzzle.
Hi Benjamin, we wholeheartedly agree. The development of small sites for social housing is part of the puzzle!
Where?
Hi Derek
The site is in Woodingdean, at the bottom of Cowley Drive / junction with the Falmer Road.
The planning portal is open for comment until tonight.
If you’d like to leave a comment of support, we’ve made it really easy – takes 30 seconds – http://www.missionhome.org.uk/watch
Equally, you’re welcome to sign up to email updates from us.
Regards
MH