18 INSIGHTS
Affordable homes-on-sea SITE LINES
Lee Davies of architects Conran and Partners explores how an East Sussex council’s initiative produced an exemplar partnership which employs an innovative design solution to tackle the local housing crisis
ast year marked 100 years since the introduction of the ‘Addison Act’, the legislation that paved the way for councils to build homes at scale, and established the principle of state-funded council housing set at low rents. Yet, the challenges of meeting housing needs in the UK continue a century later, requiring local authorities to seek increasingly progressive ways of tackling the issue. Brighton & Hove for one has devised a particularly innovative approach through its ‘Homes for Brighton & Hove’ initiative. Created from a partnership between the council and the Hyde Group, the initiative seeks to grapple with the local housing crisis, and address the need for truly affordable housing within the city by creating 1,000 new homes for rent and sale for low income households. Crucially, what defines this enterprise compared with other ‘affordable’ schemes is that instead of linking rents to a percentage of the local market rent, all the homes delivered will have their rents set at 37.5 per cent of the gross income of a household earning the new Living Wage.
L
Councillor John Allcock, chair of the Council’s Housing Committee, described Homes for Brighton & Hove (which he also chairs) as a “key part of the Committee’s plans to increase the supply of genuinely affordable homes that the city urgently needs.” Hyde’s Group business development director, Guy Slocombe, also recognised that although there is “no single answer to tackling the housing shortage,” this project will provide a boost to affordable housing delivery in the city, while also contributing to the regeneration of the harbour area.
St James’ Square
Conran and Partners are architects for St James’ Square, one of the leading sites in the initiative and the former location of Belgrave Day Centre in Portslade, west of Hove. The practice recognised that close collaboration between ourselves, the council and the developer was essential to achieving a scheme best suited to the needs of those who will live there. This kind of close involvement is an approach that we apply across all of our projects. These include
Kingston Wharf
St James’ Square Development
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
ADF JANUARY 2021
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