Work starts on 57 new council homes

Work is starting on 57 new council homes for rent in Findon Road, Whitehawk.

The development, on the site of the former Whitehawk Library, will consist of 10 one bedroom flats, 33 two bedroom flats and 14 three bedroom flats. Work is due to be completed in autumn 2017.

The flats are being built by Brighton & Hove City Council as part of its New Homes for Neighbourhoods programme, which is aiming to build at least 500 new council homes on council-owned land, to provide much needed affordable housing in the city. 

Kite Place

Local residents and the Neighbourhood Council – Due East, which represents communities in East Brighton, were involved in a ‘Planning for Real’ consultation to give feedback on designs for the scheme, which will be called Kite Place.  Planning permission was granted in November last year.

Six of the flats will be wheelchair accessible and many of the flats will have level access showers for tenants with mobility needs. As with all New Homes for Neighbourhoods developments, the scheme will achieve high energy efficiency and sustainability standards. Solar panels will be installed on the roof.  All flats will be let through the council’s Homemove choice-based lettings system at affordable rents, to residents in housing need .

Councillor Warren Morgan, leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, said: “Providing more affordable rented homes for local people is a priority for the council. It is great to see work starting on these 57 new flats, which make up a significant proportion of the 215 new council homes now completed, on site or underway, and around 40 more in the current pipeline. This is a high quality council homes development in a prominent site in Whitehawk, and we look forward to the first residents moving in towards the end of next year.

“We are also making sure that, either directly through constructor Westridge or its subcontractors, this development creates opportunities for apprenticeships in the construction industry for the local community.

“Other new council homes currently being built across the city include nine flats which are about to be completed at Robert Lodge nearby, 12 new family houses in Hangleton and Portslade, five homes in Kemp Town, and 45 extra-care flats in Albion Hill.”

The site, at the junction of Findon Road and Whitehawk Road, has been vacant since 2011 when Whitehawk Library moved to new premises in Whitehawk Community Hub.

Further information

The New Homes for Neighbourhoods programme is aiming to build at least  500 new council homes by 2020.

People currently on the council’s housing register, including council tenants who need to move to a home that meets their current needs, can apply for homes built under the New Homes for Neighbourhood programme when they are completed, through the council’s Homemove choice-based lettings system.