Brighton charity’s plans to house homeless in shipping containers wins approval

A plan to house homeless people in shipping containers in an old metal scrap yard in Brighton has been given approval.

Brighton Housing Trust (BHT) and developer QED have been granted temporary planning permission for the scheme for five years.

They will put up recycled shipping containers on the site of Richardson’s Yard in New England Road, Brighton, creating 36 self-contained studio flats.

The flats, up to five storeys high, will be used as “move on” homes for the homeless. BHT gave assurances to the local community that those offered flats there would be vetted for their suitability.

Eight people, almost all neighbours, wrote to Brighton and Hove City Council objecting to the plans. Eight others wrote letters of support.

The scheme, similar to one pioneered in the Netherlands, was granted permission by the council’s planning committee on Wednesday (24 April) at Hove Town Hall.

Planning committee chairman Christopher Hawtree said: “The Richardson’s Yard scheme will provide a measure of hope for the homeless people it will support.

Councillor Hawtree added: “Members of the planning committee unanimously welcomed Brighton taking up this Dutch initiative.

“I was impressed by the incisive and considerate presentation from the Brighton Housing Trust and hope that this scheme will highlight what is being done to assist and encourage those who for one reason or another have been down on their luck and found themselves on the streets.”

BHT chief executive Andy Winter said: “We are very excited to have secured planning permission for the proposal to provide temporary homes in converted shipping container at Richardson’s Yard.

“What was particularly gratifying was the unanimous support received from members of the Brighton and Hove Planning Committee.

“Planning officers recommended approval, saying that the containers were an ‘imaginative and appropriate’ way to meet a very real need for affordable accommodation.”

Work is expected to start on the site in about four weeks’ time with the first people moving in either late August or early September.