Labour councillor Julie Cattell has backed plans to convert Brighton’s Old Slipper Baths into 11 flats for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, after Brighton and Hove’s Planning Committee approved the scheme.
The two- and three-bedroom homes at 1 Barrack Yard will be let below market rates to households on the council’s housing register while they wait for permanent accommodation.
Challenging assumptions about tenants
Cattell said many temporary-accommodation residents were families, women escaping domestic abuse or people forced to leave their previous home.
She rejected negative assumptions about prospective tenants and said the scheme would make valuable use of a council-owned building.
From Victorian baths to new homes
The grade II listed property began as Victorian public baths and was later used as a children’s nursery before that service moved in 2024.
The approval addresses a specific housing scheme rather than Brighton and Hove’s wider temporary-accommodation shortage. Delivery will still depend on the conversion work being completed.
