A Surplus of shops in Brighton's city centre is contributing to the its affordable housing crisis, it has been claimed.

A think-tank hosted by the Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership examined the housing dilemma facing the city.

One suggestion was that Brighton had too many shops and this was helping to push house prices beyond the reach of key workers.

There are almost 1,500 shops in the city centre - a third more than Leeds, which has a far greater population and a booming economy.

A large proportion occupy properties which were originally intended for residential use and many have empty flats above.

Once shops close down, they often stay empty because of a resistance among planners to change from commercial to residential use.

There are six empty shops in Portland Road and more in Lewes Road and London Road.

At the same time, the average price of a house in Brighton stands at £180,000.

Tony Mernagh, from Brighton City Centre Business Forum, said:

"You have to be careful not to undermine the commercial sector. But a lot of these shops have been empty for years. They are not employing anyone and, perhaps, we are not doing ourselves a favour by keeping them as retail premises.

"It's a reflection of our history that we have so many shops but we do have far more compared with other towns and cities of a similar size."

Households now need a net income of £38,000 before they can afford to buy - a figure which has increased by 200 per cent since 1998.

Brighton has a shortage of suitable space on which to build affordable housing and it is difficult to gauge accurately how much is needed.

Brownfield sites, like Preston Barracks, have already been earmarked for mixed development, which would have to include a percentage of affordable housing.

But the first proposed 100 per cent affordable housing site in Withdean was rejected by councillors because it was on open land rather than brownfield.

Friday March 05, 2004