Skip to content

Call to tackle Brighton and Hove's rising rents

Bob Dale
BBC News, South East
Piers Hopkirk
BBC News, Brighton
BBC Lysander Pierce wears a black leather jacket and stands on Brighton seafront with the West Pier and the shingle beach in the background.BBC
Lysander Pierce believes young people from Brighton are being priced out of living in their own city

A community group in Brighton and Hove is calling for more to be done to help key workers cope with the cost of renting in the city.

Brighton and Hove Citizens, which consists of people working for universities, schools, colleges, charities and faith groups, presented a detailed report to councillors on 30 January.

It wants affordability and local income to be taken into account when considering future developments, and more control on second homes and holiday lets.

Brighton and Hove City Council said increasing the number of affordable homes is a priority and plans to deliver more than 2,000.

Nick Wells sits on a sofa. He is wearing a white shirt, blue sweater and a blue and maroon body warmer.
Nick Wells from Brighton and Hove Citizens wants action to control rents in the city

Spokesman for the community group, Nick Wells, said: "There are key workers leaving, there's great hardship in their families because they're both having to work lots of shifts just to pay the rent."

Opthalmic nurse Chidi Ezikpe said he found himself in just that position when he moved to Brighton.

"It was a shock. It made me do a lot of extra shifts, especially during my holiday time," he said.

"I've never gone on holiday because I can't afford to."

Vaughan Riley, wearing a set of grey healthcare workers' scrubs, stands in a Brighton street, with a row of terraced houses and a parked cars behind him.
Vaughan Riley says Brighton's high rents is causing an exodus of key workers

Healthcare assistant Vaughan Riley was recently forced into a house move when his rent went up.

"Everyone's leaving" he said, "Brightonians don't live in Brighton anymore, they can't afford to.

"Everyone that I know over 18 years since I've been here have all moved back up north."

Chidi Ezikpe, wearing a purple fleece and orange t-shirt, stands in a street in Brighton.
Nurse Chidi Ezikpe says he has to work through his holidays just to afford to live in Brighton

Lysander Pierce, 18, believes he will not be able to live in his home city, which he said was "devastating".

"If I worked an entry level job it would be difficult to rent even in the nearby areas," he said.

"It's typical gentrification, prices go up because it's a lovely authentic place, but then the people that make it lovely and authentic can't afford to be there anymore".

Chris Ward, elected Labour MP for Brighton and Kemptown in July 2024, raised the issue of affordable rents in his maiden Commons speech.

He said: "You've got to build more houses, this is a supply issue, we've got too many empty homes.

"This is a problem that leads to people leaving, to school numbers dropping, to us having two primary schools and secondary schools at threat."

Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.

Related internet links