Cabinet to decide the future of the large panel system buildings 

A report going to the council’s Cabinet on Thursday 19 March recommends the formal decision to proceed with the redevelopment of the council’s 8 large panel system (LPS) buildings. 

This includes the ‘in principle’ plans to demolish the buildings and replace them with new homes.

The 8 council-owned LPS buildings in the city are:

Dudeney Lodge and Nettleton Court in Hollingdean
Falcon Court, Heron Court, Kestrel Court, Kingfisher Court and Swallow Court in north Whitehawk
St James's House in Kemp Town

Structural surveys last year found that the buildings no longer meet current safety standards for withstanding a collapse in the case of an explosion or large fire.

Following the surveys we’ve put in place additional measures to ensure that the buildings remain safe to occupy for all residents.

Recommendations

The report draws on an extensive consultation, which received feedback from over half of all LPS households.

The consultation showed a broad understanding among residents of the reasons why refurbishment is not the preferred option and why redevelopment is being proposed.

The report recommends that ‘initial demolition notices’ are served for each building as formal way of saying that the council plans to demolish the buildings in the future, which has the effect of suspending any right to buy claims.

Once issued, each notice can stay in place for up to 7 years to allow plenty of time for the planning, rehousing and other steps to take place before any redevelopment can begin. We will continue to maintain and care for these buildings as long as they are occupied.

Issuing these notices does not change the current rehousing programme, and it does not mean anyone is required to move now.

Rehousing Policy and Local Lettings Plan

The report also recommends the Cabinet approves the Rehousing Policy and Local Lettings Plan (LLP), with some changes informed by the results of the consultation.

The Rehousing Policy outlines the rehousing process and support available to secure tenants, residents in temporary accommodation and tenants of leaseholders in the building.

The LLP outlines the allocation process and rehousing options for secure tenants who will lose their homes due to the redevelopment programme. This will give greater priority in rehousing our secure LPS tenants.

The report also recommends continuing the proactive work with leaseholders to reach a mutually acceptable outcome on their homes.

If agreed, the rehousing programme will be phased over several years – beginning with St James’s House, followed by Nettleton Court and Dudeney Lodge, and then the north Whitehawk buildings.

Piloting the Home Ownership Pact

During the engagement programme, we’ve been exploring an additional proposal to support secure tenants in the LPS buildings who may have wanted to exercise their Right to Buy. The idea is to pilot a scheme that would support eligible tenants to buy a home on the open market instead.

Eligible tenants would be able to apply for a targeted grant of £40,000 to £50,000, based on the size of the property.

This support is designed to help with a deposit and make buying a home genuinely achievable, whether that’s here in the city or elsewhere.

The proposal is included in the Cabinet report for approval. If agreed, we will introduce the scheme later this year.

A new team to support tenants

We are currently recruiting to a new dedicated LPS Rehousing Team.

The team will respond to enquiries about the rehousing process, including processing the Home Loss and Disturbance Payments and will work closely with the Homemove team who will continue to support people in making their applications.

From April the Rehousing officers will begin supporting secure tenants with rehousing on a building-by-building basis – starting with St James’s House.

They will provide advice and practical support throughout the end-to-end rehousing process. This will include temporary accommodation households once secure tenants in the buildings have been re-housed.

Thank you to residents

Councillor Gill Williams, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “We want to thank all of our LPS residents and leaseholders for working with us and sharing their views on the future of their building - whether this was by filling out a survey, joining a Resident Advisory Group, attending a resident day or a drop-in, or having an informal chat with one of our team members.

“At the top of our agenda is recognising that these are people’s homes. It is our highest priority to support residents through every step of the journey.

“We’ve held drop-in sessions on all the sites to allow residents to meet with officers in person and ask any questions that they might have.

“We will be hosting fortnightly general coffee mornings and evening drop-ins and continue to be closely involved with residents as plans develop, and their views will help shape the next stages of the programme.”