Former Sackville Hotel in Hove should be converted into eight-storey luxury flats

The eight-storey scheme for the plot of the former Sackville Hotel in Kingsway, Hove, comes before the city council’s planning committee again next week.

Plans for the site have run into trouble repeatedly.

A 2015 proposal for an octagonal 17-storey tower was ridiculed as the “Sackville Sausage” and the latest, totally different, application was deferred two months ago, despite officers’ recommending approval.

Councillors were unhappy with the proposals, agreed after discussion between developers Hyde and council valuation experts, which said just five of the units should be affordable lets.

Officers have used the time to go back to the District Valuer Service (DVS) to re-examine evidence presented by Hyde in support of its claim the site could not support the council’s target figure of 40 per cent affordable homes.

A joint analysis undertaken by the DVS and another consultancy firm, BNP Paribas, has now concluded the site “can yield ten affordable homes (16 per cent of the total) in the form of five affordable rent units and five shared ownership units”.

The building would be eight storeys high at its main south-facing side looking over Kingsway and five at the eastern end facing Sackville Gardens.

Officers are again recommending approval.

The 60 homes include 12 studio apartments, 28 one-bedroom units, 19 two-beds and one three-bedroom home.

It would be built of cream- coloured brick with bronze detailing to the balconies and screens.

The application includes a significant “Section 106” stipulation for the developers to contribute more than £200,000 for public amenities.

This includes £60,000 towards school place provision, £130,000 towards recreation projects in nearby Western Lawns and £60,000 towards bus stop improvements including accessible kerbs and real-time information boards.

A spokesman for Hyde said: “We welcome the officer recommendation for approval of the scheme and look forward to the committee meeting.”