Sex parties and drug cooking in a council block that is meant to be for the over fifties has left residents in fear.
People living in Ardingly Court, in High Street, Brighton, who do not want to be identified due to fear of reprisals, told councillors and housing officials about their experiences.
They spoke out at a Brighton and Hove City Council housing management panel yesterday (Tuesday 16 September).
The issues were outlined in a question published in the panel’s agenda, stating that people were frightened to go out into the garden, particularly after dark.
At the meeting, a resident said: “I’ve never felt vulnerable. I wouldn’t consider myself in any shape or form vulnerable. But there (Ardingly Court) I do, because of the amount of drugs around.
“The amount of drug takers, dealing, the running around half naked, dodgy sort of business, sex parties … it all goes on there.
“I’ve been around for a long time and had a life but it’s shocking that I should have to see that.”
The resident said that Ardingly Court was like a fish bowl with flats surrounding the garden and everyone could see what was going on.
Another neighbour said: “Since 2019, the council has housed someone who had a 25-year conviction who came out after 17 or 18 years, and he was Mr Big in Brighton.
“The council tell us they do scrutiny checks on people – background checks. This guy came straight out of prison and was housed in Ardingly Court.
“It’s absolutely disgusting and they’ve since done it with two other people who have moved in and have both been raided and have backgrounds that have not been checked.”
Out of 48 flats in the block, three have had drug raids, with police officers battering down doors.
Neighbours said that they were aware of people “cooking drugs” in their flats which attracts drug users to the area.
Residents said that they were concerned that people were given a full tenancy in the block even when they had a history of anti-social behaviour.
One Ardingly Court tenant said: “Nobody should be homeless. I understand that. I’m not saying you shouldn’t house these people because of their past. Maybe they could be housed in more appropriate accommodation.”
The council’s director of housing people services Harry Williams said that the approach to anti-social behaviour was reviewed in 2022 in response to problems, resulting in a new policy in 2023 which had been embedded over the past two years.
He said that there were delays in the court system and a significant amount of evidence was required before cases could be taken to court.
Mr Williams said: “What we are hearing though about implementing the anti-social behaviour policy is we have some learning around how we’re communicating our work on anti-social behaviour.
“We’re not quite getting that right. We’re not communicating well enough with our communities on issues like that.
“We’re really thinking about how we communicate with residents in a better way. Some of our nervousness is around confidentiality and making sure we’re not sharing too much information.”
A suggestion put forward to keep people informed was using examples from previous cases to help residents understand the burden of proof required by the council, without breaking confidentiality.
The council’s head of tenancy services Justine Harris said that using previous examples was something raised during the anti-social behaviour review.
She said: “Residents have asked that we show case studies and other local authorities do that really well when they’ve got social properties and a successful court action.
“We had started highlighting CPWs (community protection warnings) and CPNs (community protection notices) and it all goes into that communication.”
From April last year to April this year, the council issued 21 community protection warnings and six community protection notices as a “stepped approach” to anti-social behaviour warnings.
These were described as effective, resolving three-quarters of anti-social behaviour cases without legal intervention.
In the first quarter of the 2025-26 financial year, there were 219 anti-social behaviour cases opened, with each case taking an average of 129 days to close.
This is a problem all round Kemp town, some people don’t go out after midnight because of such behaviour, I’m not saying it is a no go zone, but the problems in st James street and the side streets are getting worse, all a stones throw from the police station.
What time and date do these sex parties occur anyone ? As I would like to come along as I’m a bit desperate
What on earth is wrong with the council housing these kinds of people in a. densely populated, tourism location in a retirement block. This is a prime location social housing block that decent retired people on the housing list would love and instead they stick in drug declining criminals into it. I remember speaking to one of the residents in this block and he was terrified living here. House scum with scum in facilities with security away from anywhere they can cause trouble.
I’m guessing prison would be a good facility or even a zoo by the sounds of the report.