The Conservative Group has today revealed its six amendments to protect Brighton and Hove’s family homes ahead of the 23 April City Plan Part 2 Special Council meeting.

 

The 6 family home amendments are part of a total of 30 amendments put forward by the Conservative Group ahead of next week’s important meeting.  Labour has offered no amendments to the plan.

 

Conservative Spokesperson on Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Equalities Robert Nemeth, who is coordinating the Conservative amendments to City Plan on behalf of the group, said that protecting the family home in Brighton & Hove was a key priority for Conservative Councillors.

 

While our 30 amendments are laser-focused on saving Brighton and Hove’s green land, we are also focused on protecting family homes in Brighton & Hove, which is very important to our Group.

 

“The Conservative amendments focus on 6 practical areas of policy and will achieve the following:

 

Conservative Amendment 1: 

Make it easier to turn flats back into houses

 

Conservative Amendment 2: 

Reduce the number of family homes that are converted to flats

 

Conservative Amendment 3: 

Make it harder for buy-to-rent developers to sell units for profit

 

Conservative Amendment 4: 

Make it harder to create Houses in multiple occupations (HMOs)

 

Conservative Amendment 5: 

Promote custom and self-built housing

 

Conservative Amendment 6: 

Increase protection for the rears of buildings in Conservation areas

 

“In these amendments we have proposed some new key planning tests for the City - to ensure that perfectly-usable houses are not chopped up into small units, and that small flats can be converted back if there is demand. This will ensure a vibrant mix of different housing types of all shapes and sizes” Cllr Nemeth said.

 

Conservative amendments 1 and 2 focus on the issue of traditional family homes being converted into flats.

 

Amendment 1 ensures that when an existing area is demolished, family homes are included in the criteria for replacement housing.

 

Amendment 2 raises the threshold for granting planning permission for the conversion of family homes into smaller units of self-contained accommodation, raising the original dwelling floor area requirement from 115sqm to 120sqm.

 

Conservative Group Deputy Leader and Spokesperson on Housing and New Homes Mary Mears said that reversing the trend of family homes being converted to flats was essential to Brighton & Hove’s economy, pointing to the example of key workers.

 

“There is a whole raft of people who make up the economy of this City – not just students" Councillor Mears said.

 

“Key workers are employed in many different types of job right across the city, from City Clean, to nurses, teachers, care workers, police and postmen and postwomen just to name a few - and they need family-sized homes to live in.

 

“Under Labour there have been so many family homes lost to student housing that key workers are moving out of Brighton & Hove.

 

“Families are being squeezed out by the policies of this Labour administration that is failing to adequately protect our City’s existing stock of family-sized homes and allowing the loss these homes to continue unabated” she said.

 

Amendment 3 extends to length of time that buy to rent properties must be rented from 15 years to ‘in perpetuity’.

 

Conservative Councillor Joe Miller said that the purpose of this amendment was to put different types of developers on an equal footing.

 

“The City Plan as it currently stands will simply encourage more unaffordable ‘build to rent accommodation’ with little or no affordable accommodation” he said.

 

“Our amendment will redress this balance and ensure the City has provision for families to live and own their own home” Cllr Miller added.

 

Amendment 4 reduces the permitted concentration of HMOs in any area from 20 to 15% and Amendment 5 flags the need to include self-builders in the Council’s thinking.

 

Conservative Councillor Dee Simson said the loss of family homes to HMO’s in the city has had a detrimental effect on the closeness of our communities and has led to falling numbers on roll in our schools.

 

“The availability of family homes has decreased so much that it has meant the break-up of previously strong communities, with young families having to move out of the city” she said.

 

“The reduction within DM7 from 20% to 15% will allow more homes to remain in use by families, eventually rebuilding and retaining the lost community spirit in our neighbourhoods whilst increasing the number of children attending local schools” Cllr Simson added.

 

The Conservatives’ sixth amendment inserts a paragraph to ensure that traditional and original features of pre-existing houses are valued.

 

Conservative Councillor Carol Theobald, who is the Conservative Group’s spokesperson on Planning, said that the City was losing a lot of families, mainly to HMO’s for single people.

 

“Many of the Planning Applications recently have plenty of one and some two bedroom but hardly any for 3/4 beds” Councillor Theobald said.

 

“The design of some of these new homes could be improved and fit in more with surrounding properties” she said.

 

Cllr Theobald, who represents Patcham ward, also added she, like all Conservative Councillors, was concerned about plans in City plan part 2 to build on the urban fringe.

 

“I am concerned about building on the Urban fringe especially on Horsdean in Patcham.

 

“This would be on a hill next to the bypass and above the football ground.

 

“I will be fighting on behalf of my constituents to protect our green land from development at next Thursday’s City Plan Part 2 meeting.” she said.

 

ENDS.