Brighton and Hove City Council is in talks to buy 21 new homes I Rottingdean for up to £10 million.
The council’s new Labour cabinet is expected to approve a deal in principle at a meeting in the coming week – and to set a price ceiling.
For their money, they will get six houses and 15 flats on the old St Aubyns School site in Rottingdean, with a potential discount for a bulk purchase.
If the cabinet backs the purchase, as expected, officials will aim to reach a deal with Fairfax Acquisitions which has been marketing the properties through two local estate agents.
The council said: “A proposal on the potential purchase of 21 homes in Rottingdean to provide more council housing will be considered at the cabinet meeting on Thursday 18 July.
“The recommendation is for councillors to authorise an offer to buy the homes – a mix of flats and family houses on part of the former St Aubyns School site.
“The homes were built by a private developer as part of the affordable housing element of a development on the school site but have not been occupied.
“A report to the cabinet meeting says the developer approached the council about a possible purchase of the properties in Nicolson Place and Vaughan Williams Way.
“If a purchase goes ahead, the homes will be used for people on the city’s housing register. The homes include four fully adapted wheelchair accessible flats.
“Some of the properties could also be let to existing council tenants looking to downsize, helping to free up large family homes for others.
“Increasing the supply of housing in the city is a priority for the council and the proposal is part of a range of measures to provide more council homes.
“A separate report to the cabinet meeting will provide an update on our New Homes for Neighbourhoods programme building new council-rented homes.
“If agreed, three schemes providing a total of 67 extra council homes in Hollingbury, Portslade and Moulsecoomb will move ahead.”
The three schemes already have planning permission. They are for
- 9 flats on the former Hollingbury Library site in Carden Hill
- 28 flats at Portslade Village Centre in Windlesham Close
- 30 studios to be used as short-term supported accommodation for young people in Eastergate Road, Moulsecoomb
Labour councillor Gill Williams, the cabinet member for housing and new homes, said: “We are facing a housing crisis in the city and we are being proactive in our approach to secure more council housing.
“The proposed purchase of the homes in Rottingdean could provide a significant boost of 21 good-quality properties, meeting a range of needs from three-bedroom family houses to one-bedroom flats.
“Our New Homes for Neighbourhoods building programme continues to provide more much-needed new council homes – 269 new homes have been built since it started in 2013 and more are in the pipeline.
“We’ve also seen the completion this year of a Homes for Brighton and Hove development at Denman Place, in Coldean, delivering 242 low-cost homes, including 127 council-rented homes.
“And we are continuing to buy back council homes lost under the ‘right to buy’ through our home purchase policy.”
£210k per household isn’t bad at all, actually.
I make that £476k per household, not £210k sadly.
£10M divided by 21 is a lot more than £210K
You are both absolutely correct, and a good reason why I shouldn’t try to do math late at night!
where is the council getting funds? Is labour increasing council tax ?
Comes from rents paid by tenants and possibly some government grants and developer contributions in lieu of of providing affordable housing on other schemes.
Look up “housing revenue account”
This might give you some more insight, Jay. https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/housing/homes-for-everyone-draft-housing-strategy
Drop in the ocean. 500 migrants came over in small dinghies just this weekend. What is the Labour immigration plan to stop population growth as buying 21 properties with the current level of population growth is going to make zero difference to the housing list.
A council decision to buy housing stock and small boat crossings may not be related.
Could you explain your thesis please Nigel?
21 properties is definitely better than zero properties.
And will make a huge difference to those on the housing list who will be allocated them.
I lived in a place with a leaky roof once, got a couple of drops from the ceiling every so often, and had to put a bucket underneath it. By the end of the week, that bucket was full of water.
B&H news where did the £10m figure come from?
It’s not mentioned in the report for the public part of the agenda
https://democracy.brighton-hove.gov.uk/documents/s201117/Housing%20Supply%20Report%20Update%20on%20potential%20acquisition.html?CT=2
I’d have thought actual figures would be restricted to the public in the documentation. Fairfax have a section on their website though, which I found through quick backtrack search of the image above. https://www.fairfaxproperties.co.uk/development/former-st-aubyns-school-rottingdean/
Yes it will be in the Part 2 report for councillors to see but not in the Part 1 (public) report.
I’m not sure doing valuations based on a developers website is a good idea for anyone because what they sell a flat etc on an individual basis isn’t the same as a block sale.
Plus the developer approached the council which might be a sign that they can’t sell them individually but will take a reduced price as it saves them on possible borrowing and other costs.
I believe that was certainly the case for Kubic regarding sales.
Good ! As long as they don’t get sold to a resident
I suspect we want residents to live in these Chris. :p