Brighton & Hove City Council is asking its own Planning Committee to let it knock down Oakley House, at the corner of Edward Street and Tillstone Street in Brighton, and build up to 20 flats for affordable housing. Councillors decide on Wednesday 28 October 2026. Planning officers recommend that permission is granted, according to the council’s report to the committee.
Application. BH2025/02088, a council development, full planning application.
Where. Oakley House, Leicester Street, Brighton BN2 0AZ, in Queen’s Park ward.
What. Demolition of the existing building and a new residential block of up to five storeys with 20 flats.
Mix. Nine one-bedroom, eight two-bedroom and three three-bedroom homes.
Net gain. 14 homes, because the building has six homes in it now.
Decision. Planning Committee, Wednesday 28 October 2026, 1pm, Council Chamber, Hove Town Hall.
Recommendation. Officers recommend the committee grants permission, subject to conditions.
What is planned
The new building would be mainly five storeys. It steps down to four storeys on the Tillstone Street side and two storeys on the western side, next to Egremont Place. The report says the scheme was cut down during the application: the main block was reduced from six storeys to five, a western projection above first floor level was removed, and the north east corner was lowered from six storeys to four.
Every flat would have a private balcony of between 6.4 and 10.8 square metres. The plans include communal gardens to the north with community growing spaces, a tool store and seating, a green roof, and raised planting along the Edward Street frontage. The homes would be car free, with a loading bay at the back and resurfaced pavements on Leicester Street. The street changes would be secured through a separate highways agreement with the council.
The council says the flats would be let at affordable rent levels. The planning condition requires at least 40 per cent affordable housing, but the report says the intention is for all 20 homes to be affordable. All floors can be reached by lift, and the flats are designed to be accessible and adaptable. The scheme is also set to deliver a biodiversity net gain of at least 10 per cent, including two new trees.
What is on the site now
The existing building is one to three storeys high, built in the post-war years, with a commercial unit on the ground floor and homes above. The report says it has no architectural or historic significance. The ground floor is currently used on a short temporary lease by The Wood Store, a business that collects, recycles and reuses reclaimed waste wood. For decades before that it was home to Oakley Motor and Marine, which sold and serviced outboard engines.
The site sits inside the Eastern Road and Edward Street area that the City Plan earmarks for redevelopment. Officers say losing the commercial space is acceptable because the site is not in a shopping area and the St James’s Street district centre is nearby.
What objectors say
The council received 15 letters objecting to the scheme. They raise the impact on listed buildings and conservation areas, the height and scale of the block, overdevelopment, design, loss of light, overlooking, an overbearing feel, noise and construction disruption. Others worry the community areas could attract antisocial behaviour, and that traffic and parking would get worse. One further letter backs affordable housing and argues the council should build taller along Edward Street.
The report says loss of view and effect on property values are not planning matters, and that officers found no significant harm to neighbours’ homes. The building’s neighbours include a Grade II listed terrace at 57 to 59 Egremont Place.
What officers say
The council’s heritage officers find a “low level of harm” to the Queen’s Park and East Cliff conservation areas and to the setting of the listed buildings on Egremont Place. The report concludes that the public benefit of new affordable homes outweighs that limited harm.
The report puts weight on the city’s housing shortage. It says the council can show only about 1.5 years of housing supply, a shortfall of 10,442 homes, so extra weight goes to delivering housing. The BRE, an independent daylight specialist consulted on the plans, found some minor adverse effects on neighbours’ daylight and sunlight, and moderate effects on sunlight in two neighbouring rear gardens. Historic England made no comment, and urban design officers support the amended scheme.
More homes planned on the same streets
Oakley House is not the only scheme nearby. The report lists a separate application, BH2025/02089, for the car park next to Malthouse Court and Hereford Court, opposite the site. It proposes a twelve-storey building of 36 flats for over 55s with community space, and a six-storey block of 17 flats, all for affordable housing. That application is still under consideration. The report also notes a scheme to redevelop the former care home at 35 to 36 Egremont Place into 25 homes, approved in October 2024.
What happens next
The decision date has been extended to 4 November 2026. The Planning Committee meeting that had been planned for 4 November has been cancelled, so 28 October is the last chance for councillors to decide it before then. It is also the last meeting before ward councillors lose their power to call applications in from 31 October. You can read the papers on the council’s agenda page for 28 October, look up the application on the planning register, and watch council meetings on the council’s webcast channel.
Sources. Brighton & Hove City Council Planning Committee report, application BH2025/02088, and agenda for 28 October 2026.
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