Brighton Council secures funding for housing, infrastructure and communities

A fund of over £21m has been secured by Brighton Council for projects being developed in the next few years, including affordable housing and infrastructure.

Last year the Council received £4.9m through negotiated developer contributions, alongside £7.6m from planning negotiations.

Planning permission was given for 1,628 new homes, with 371 affordable to buy or rent. This is the highest annual amount of housing granted permission during the 10-year monitoring period of the City Plan.

Cllr Leo Littman, chair of Brighton’s planning committee, said: ‘Our job is to determine the ‘planning balance’ for every major application in the city. Having our officers do such a great job of negotiating levels of financial contributions with developers, and ensuring the city is appropriately compensated for any added pressures due to proposed new developments, makes assessing that balance a lot easier.

‘It gives us confidence that every major planning application will benefit local communities and the wider city. Developer contributions support infrastructure and facilities upgrades for residents, workers, and visitors, alike. These include affordable housing, local employment training opportunities, improvements to parks and recreational spaces, transport infrastructure, accessibility, and educational facilities.’

In 2020/21, £2.5 million supported key projects, with nearly £1.1 million going towards providing 15 new affordable homes, £161,000 on recreation and sport facilities and £716,000 on transport improvements for pedestrians.

CityParks have also spent more than £3 million on improving parks and open spaces from funds secured from developer contributions.

In related news, a new planning application has been submitted by Manchester City Council to begin the process of making the Red Bank neighbourhood ready for development.

The initial phase of works is expected to address infrastructure constraints to allow the delivery of new homes and green spaces, made possible through a £51.6m funding award from the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund.

Photo by Max Anz