Brighton and Hove’s Planning Committee has backed plans to knock down the building at 41 to 44 Western Road, which houses a Card Factory and a Cancer Research UK shop, and replace it with a four-storey block of 14 homes and two shops. Brighton and Hove News reported that the committee approved the scheme on Wednesday 7 October 2026 by eight votes to one. The council’s own report to the committee recommended that councillors be “minded to grant” permission, subject to a legal agreement.
Application. BH2024/02608, full planning application.
Where. 41 to 44 Western Road, Brighton BN1 2EB, with the back of the building on Clarence Square. Regency ward.
Applicant. Rachel Charitable Trust, through the planning consultants WSP.
What. Demolition of the existing buildings and a new four-storey building plus basement, with two flexible commercial units and 14 homes.
Decision. Planning Committee, 7 October 2026, approved by eight votes to one according to Brighton and Hove News.
Affordable housing. None on site. The scheme is to be reviewed again late in the build to see whether a payment can be made towards affordable housing.
Next step. The legal agreement must be signed, or well advanced, by 7 January 2027. If not, the head of planning can refuse permission.
What is planned
The new building would have two shops on the Western Road frontage with a basement, and 14 flats behind and above them. The scheme has been cut back since it was first put forward. Early advice in 2023 covered a five-storey building with 16 homes. The version before the committee is four storeys, with changes to the parapet wall on Clarence Square, the bin store and the materials after comments from heritage and urban design officers.
The council’s planning policy team welcomed the fact that the scheme has more two-bedroom homes than one-bedroom homes. Level access is planned from Clarence Square and every floor can be reached by lift. One wheelchair-accessible home is planned on the first floor, and the others are designed to be accessible and adaptable. Highways officers have no objection and the council intends to make the development permit free, so residents would not be able to get parking permits.
What is there now
The building is part three storeys and part four, with a Western Road frontage and a second frontage on Clarence Square. The report says it was built in phases during the 19th century and was once around eight separate buildings, which were joined together over time. It has many changes of level and poor internal circulation, and the report describes the buildings as generally in a poor state of repair. They are not listed.
The two shops on Western Road are occupied by Card Factory and Cancer Research UK. The upper floors are empty and used only as storage by the shops. The site is in the Regency Square Conservation Area, and the Western Road frontage is prime shopping frontage. Heritage officers raised no objection to demolition once the height was reduced.
Affordable housing and the legal agreement
The scheme does not include any affordable homes. The council’s housing team accepted that this is down to viability, and the developer’s figures were independently checked for the council. The legal agreement requires a review late in the build to see if a payment towards affordable housing can be made. It also requires a £4,400 contribution to local employment and training, and highway works around Clarence Square.
Conservative councillor Carol Theobald told the meeting that a payment towards affordable housing is unlikely, according to Brighton and Hove News.
What people said
The council received five comments that neither supported nor opposed the scheme. They raised the bin area on Clarence Square, noise, the effect on the conservation area, the height, car parking and the security of the neighbouring bank during demolition. One further comment welcomed the amended design for Clarence Square and its railings. The report notes that many comments were made before the building was reduced in height.
The Conservation Advisory Group objected to the earlier version, calling it an overdevelopment. The Regency Society and Hove Civic Society also raised concerns about the roof design. Both views were given before the scheme was amended.
At the meeting, Labour councillor Julie Cattell backed the plans, calling the existing building a “dog’s dinner”, according to Brighton and Hove News. Councillor Theobald, the one vote against, cited the loss of traditional commercial premises, the heritage objections and the lack of affordable housing. A Clarence Square resident, Nigel Massey, raised fly-tipping and antisocial behaviour around the bins. The applicant’s agent, Michael Wood, said the building is in poor repair with little architectural merit, and that the applicant is willing to extend the wall and railings to the edge of the site.
Why officers recommended approval
The report concludes that demolition is justified and that the benefits of the scheme outweigh any heritage harm. It gives weight to the city’s housing shortage and says the reduced building would deliver much needed homes and two modern shops. It says careful control of materials would keep the effect on the Regency Square Conservation Area positive, and that the development would not have a significant effect on neighbours.
What happens next
Permission will be issued once the legal agreement is signed. You can read the papers on the agenda page for 7 October and look up the application on the council’s planning register. For the other big change on the same street, see our guide to Western Road Rebuild and Red Route: What's Happening and When.
Sources. Brighton & Hove City Council Planning Committee report, application BH2024/02608, and agenda for 7 October 2026; Brighton and Hove News, 10 October 2026.
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