Brighton and Hove City Council has approved plans to turn the Old Slipper Baths in Barrack Yard, North Laine, into 11 flats for temporary accommodation. The council’s planning register shows the decision was issued on Wednesday 14 October 2026.
The scheme was on the agenda of the council’s Planning Committee on 7 October 2026, with officers recommending approval. The council is both the applicant and the owner, and says the flats will stay in its ownership.
What the council plans
The flats: The application, reference BH2025/02689, covers the conversion and extension of the building at 1 Barrack Yard. There would be seven two-bedroom and four three-bedroom flats, which the planning report says is 64% and 36% of the total.
Who they are for: The council says the flats would be offered to people on its housing register who are homeless or at risk of homelessness while they wait for a permanent home. They would be let at below market rent, so the report counts all 11 as affordable housing.
Access and outdoor space: One ground floor flat would be wheelchair accessible and a lift would serve the upper floors. The ground floor flats would have private outdoor space, and there would be a shared communal garden with cycle and bin storage. There would be no car parking.
The condition on who can live there: Officers recommended a condition that the flats are for temporary accommodation only, occupied by households nominated by the council under the Housing Act 1996. They also recommended that the council agree how the 100% affordable homes will work before building starts.
The building’s history
The baths: The report says the building opened in 1895 as Brighton’s first municipal public baths, on the site of a former barracks. It gave residents a place to bathe at a time before indoor bathrooms were common, and it closed in 1976.
Recent use: The building was last used by Bright Start Nursery and a sports massage business, and the report says it has been vacant since May 2025. The nursery moved to the Tarner Family Hub in September 2024, about 300 metres away. The building stands next to the Prince Regent Swimming Complex.
Design and heritage
The look: The site is in the North Laine Conservation Area and close to Grade II listed buildings on Marlborough Place. The plans replace the hipped roof ends with a zinc mansard roof and a lift shaft enclosure. The report says the plans were changed during the application, mainly to the roof and the window materials, and the inset balconies were removed. Officers recommended that the windows be timber.
The heritage concern: Heritage officers raised concerns about the new roof form, because the report treats the building as a non-designated heritage asset. Officers concluded the harm was less than substantial and was outweighed by the public benefits, which they named as 100% affordable family-sized temporary housing and bringing a vacant building back into use.
What neighbours said
Objections: The council received three objections. They raised the extra storey and roof, with loss of outlook and overlooking, noise and the lack of car parking, community safety and the character of the area, and noise complaints from nearby licensed venues.
Comment: A fourth representation commented on access to the Prince Regent Swimming Complex during building work and once the flats are occupied, and asked for conditions to protect it.
The council’s response: The report says the impact on neighbours was not significant enough to refuse the plans, and that loss of a view is not a planning consideration. It says the activity from the flats would be comparable to neighbouring uses and that Sussex Police did not object. Officers recommended a construction management plan and set working hours of 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays, with no work on Sundays or bank holidays.
What happens next
Before building starts: The recommended conditions include a £4,200 contribution to skills and training, approval of materials, drainage and landscaping, and an ecology plan with 11 swift boxes, 11 bee bricks and one bat box.
The works: The council has published a pipeline notice on the Find a Tender service for the Slipper Baths affordable housing scheme. It gives an estimated contract period of 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2028. These are the council’s estimates, so the real dates may differ.
ImJustBrighton note: The council has been under pressure to find more temporary homes. Read our reports on the £6 million grant for adult social care and homelessness and the council’s plan for 20 affordable flats at Oakley House.
Sources: Brighton & Hove City Council planning register, BH2025/02689; Planning Committee papers, 7 October 2026; Find a Tender notice 2026/S 000-047769.
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