Brighton and Hove City Council's Cabinet will be asked on 12 November 2026 to approve an extra £1.46m for the redevelopment of its eight large panel system housing blocks. The same Cabinet report asks Cabinet to note plans to close the Chapel Street public car park beneath St James's House for good, and to change the council's promise to tenants from a "Right to Return" to an "Interest in Returning".
The report follows the council's decision in March 2026 to demolish and redevelop St James's House in Kemptown, Nettleton Court and Dudeney Lodge in Hollingdean, and the five north Whitehawk blocks: Falcon Court, Heron Court, Kestrel Court, Kingfisher Court and Swallow Court. ImJustBrighton has covered the earlier stages of the programme. The papers are on the council's Cabinet meeting page.
What Cabinet is being asked to approve
Extra money. Cabinet is asked to approve an additional £1.46m of housing capital budget. The report says it would pay for staff, land assembly, home loss and disturbance payments for secure tenants in the extended areas, a leaseholder assistance contingency, legal costs and an Independent Tenant and Leaseholder Adviser for residents of the three sites. On staffing, it separately sets out a request for £250,000 for dedicated masterplan staff.
Where the money comes from. The report says the spending is considered affordable within the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan. The council's scrutiny report says it would be funded through Housing Revenue Account borrowing where required. Some detail, including the cost of the independent adviser and a property purchase in Hollingdean, sits in a confidential part of the papers.
Delegated powers. Cabinet is also asked to hand decisions on timing to the Corporate Director for Homes and Adult Social Care, working with the Cabinet Member for Housing. These cover when to stop new temporary accommodation lettings in the blocks, when to serve notices to quit and notices of seeking possession, and when to buy property in the extended Hollingdean area.
Right to Return becomes Interest in Returning
The change. The council's rehousing policy and local lettings plan, agreed in March 2026, include a Right to Return to the redeveloped sites. The report says there is no legal requirement for the council to offer secure tenants the option to return. It proposes calling it an Interest in Returning, and says expressing that interest does not give a tenant any legal rights, although the council will try to support a return where possible.
No second payment. Tenants who are permanently rehoused and then choose to return would not receive extra financial assistance. The report says secure tenants are eligible for statutory home loss and disturbance payments on their first move, but not for a second voluntary move back to the new development.
Who goes first. In a phased development, priority for new homes on the site would go to secure tenants who have not yet been rehoused, before anyone already permanently rehoused can bid. Residents living in the blocks as temporary accommodation would not be offered the chance to return.
Other conditions. The proposed conditions include no rent arrears, or a satisfactory arrangement kept for six months, and no substantiated anti-social behaviour breaches or live enforcement action in the six months before bidding. The home offered would be like for like on bedrooms, subject to affordability assessments, because the rent on a new build might be higher. The report says discretion may be used in exceptional circumstances.
Leaseholders and the end of the lease swap idea
Eight leaseholders. The report says eight resident leaseholders have not yet progressed to conveyancing. In the consultation that fed into the March decision, two of them showed interest in a lease swap. The report says no independent financial assessment has been completed yet to confirm hardship for any resident leaseholder.
A different offer. Having looked at lease swaps, the council now recommends a bespoke leaseholder assistance offer instead, for a limited number of leaseholders in exceptional financial hardship or who are vulnerable. Cabinet is asked to approve £0.1m for it, with each case reviewed individually after an assessment by an independent financial adviser. The report says the existing budget agreed in July 2025 already covers the buyback of leaseholders' homes.
Where residents stand now
Notices served. The report says Initial Demolition Notices were served on all secure council tenants in the eight blocks on 8 October 2026, with leaseholders given a copy for information. The council says this does not mean demolition is imminent. The notices stay valid for up to seven years, and the council must have its plans through planning permission and a demolition date before it can serve a Final Demolition Notice.
What the notices stopped. Serving the notices suspends Right to Buy applications and mutual exchanges. When they were served there was one live Right to Buy application. The tenant has three months to send evidence of reasonable expenses to be compensated by the council. The report says a Home Ownership Pact pilot, agreed in March, is going ahead.
Support. A letting freeze on secure tenancies in the eight blocks is in place. The report says the council is co-procuring an Independent Tenant and Leaseholder Adviser with trained members of its Resident Advisory Group, and has appointed TDC to provide health and wellbeing support to residents in 2026 to 2027. Residents and businesses within 300 metres of each site were sent a newsletter explaining the notices.
Possible earlier moves. The report says secure tenants might have to leave the blocks before redevelopment if the Building Safety Regulator requires it. That is why Cabinet is asked to delegate the timing of possession notices.
Chapel Street car park
Closed since July 2024. The public pay and display car park under St James's House has been closed since 14 July 2024 to meet the requirements of the Building Safety Regulator and East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service. A delegated decision in December 2025 said design work for the site would go ahead without a replacement public car park.
What changes. Cabinet is asked to note the intention to close it permanently, subject to a Traffic Regulation Order process. The council says it would save on equipment maintenance and business rates, which were £44,000 for 2025 to 2026, and that early planning advice says it does not have to be replaced. The report says residents' parking at St James's Court is not affected.
Hollingdean land and the money question
A bigger Hollingdean site. At Nettleton Court and Dudeney Lodge, the council proposes extending the redevelopment area to include adjacent council-owned properties on Ditchling Road, after a consultation under Section 105 of the Housing Act 1985. A voluntary purchase of a freehold property is also identified. The report says this should increase the number of homes and allow phased redevelopment. Cabinet is asked to approve an Initial Demolition Notice for the secure tenant in the extended area and to give them the same rehousing rights as tenants in the blocks.
Compulsory purchase. The legal section says compulsory purchase powers may need to be considered in future for land assembly. It describes them as powers of last resort that would come back to Cabinet in a further report.
Viability. The report says rising build costs, inflation, regulatory costs and low social rents are among the challenges, and the three sites will not achieve break-even for the Housing Revenue Account. It asks Cabinet to back an optimised approach to the designs and masterplans, and says a further Cabinet report in 2027 will look at delivery routes and updated financial viability.
Scrutiny ahead of Cabinet
Place Overview and Scrutiny. The council's Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee was asked to note the report and make comments on the proposals at its meeting on 3 November 2026, ahead of Cabinet.
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