Whitehawk is next homes hot spot

For many years, Whitehawk has been looked on as Brighton and Hove's poor relation.

The estate was blighted with a reputation as a hotbed of crime, vandalism and social problems.

The negative reputation gained momentum and impacted on the psyche of the people living there.

Over the decades that negativity fed through to the younger generation. This led to the community having little pride in itself which in turn resulted in a set of shocking social statistics.

And when the rest of the city began to boom ten years ago, Whitehawk barely got off the starting block.

Unemployment stood at ten per cent while the national rate was six per cent.

In a city crying out for more homes, no one wanted to live there. Council homes remained empty, boarded up and a target for vandals.

It was then that the Government stepped in with £47.2 million.

With the help of the eb4u (east brighton for you) initiative, the flats which were snapped up for a few thousand pounds when the right-to-buy scheme was introduced are now on the market for £100,000.

Estate agents estimate a typical three-bedroom home could soon reach £160,000, if not more.

Even Londoners are starting to look there, having been priced out of much of the rest of the city.

There is also more interest from families wanting to move to council homes on the estate.

The ripples of success which have spread from the centre are finally reaching Whitehawk, in the same way the regeneration of Islington in London a decade ago spread to neighbouring districts.

Paul Taggart, estate agent with the Kemp Town office of Mishon Mackay in Brighton, said: "Whitehawk borders two of the most expensive parts of the city, Sussex Square and Roedean. Ten years ago it was a nightmare and not an easy area to sell a property in but I've seen fortunes come and go in lots of areas.

"I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon but I'm excited about the way things are going."

The eb4u scheme has been operating for three years and has a set of targets such as reducing crime, improving educational and health standards and ridding the area of unsocial behaviour.

The estate's school, East Brighton College of Media Arts (Comart), was in special measures because of its failure to deliver high enough educational standards. But under the leadership of Dr Jill Clough, staff have pulled the school out of that category and it is now on the march.

The new policing strategy for East Brighton has bucked the national trend with a fall in violent crime.

The community safety project, working with police to crack down on crime, has produced some welcome statistics with an eight per cent fall in crime overall in East Brighton in 2002, compared with the previous year.

A network of CCTV cameras constantly monitor the estate and neighbours have become confident in calling police to tell them which camera to focus on any developing crimes or anti-social incidents.

The community safety team has also been using the full powers offered through the civil courts and using anti social behaviour orders (ASBOs) to keep troublesome tenants under control.

Those who break their ASBOs are thrown out of their council homes and not rehomed by the city council.

The threat of having to pay the average of £1,000 a month to rent a three-bedroom home in the private sector has proved a powerful tool.

Young people who show signs of anti-social behaviour agree to sign acceptable behaviour contracts, agreeing to clean their act up. Fail and they can face prison.

Like many similar deprived areas around the country, the majority of residents are decent people who were once proud of their community.

But they lost their voice as it appeared the tearaway minority had taken control of their estate.

Slowly, a turnaround has begun. In three months last year, of the 64 people who moved to Whitehawk, 27 specifically requested to go there.

Mother-of-three Jane Lindsay moved into Plaistow Close in December. She said: "I was in Bevendean but I liked Whitehawk. It's not as bad as people say. It's a nice area."

Looking at the statistics and the estate's prime location, any expert would agree a few simple improvements and a change in outlook could turn it into a sought-after spot.

It is bounded by countryside, there are sea views, no parking restrictions, the houses have front and back gardens and buses run into the city centre every six minutes.

Then, of course there are the ever-increasing range of opportunities being created such as a free minibus to take students to various schools and colleges.

There is a refurbished community centre in Whitehawk Way, which has numerous events, an affordable cafe and a creche.

Phil Doyle, vice-chair of the eb4u board, has lived in Swanborough Drive for six years.

He said: "I had heard all the stories but had never been here. I thought I was moving to the Lebanon or a war zone.

"When I moved here I found out how marvellous the people were. I wouldn't live anywhere else.

"There is a community spirit and it's turning a corner. There are plenty of childcare facilities, lots of meetings. I think there are all the signs that it's moving on. We are getting a lot of interest from people from outside wanting to buy properties here, a significant number of them from London."

The area is constantly being targeted by an investment company which wants to buy up people's council homes on the cheap to sell them on at their potential full value.

Mr Doyle said he recently took a group of people from a housing company around the estate on a bus trip, who could not believe the area was considered deprived.

But he did warn that although the houses and the environment was attractive, there was still social deprivation behind the doors, hence eb4u taking on the area until 2010.

Brighton and Hove City Councillor Jack Hazelgrove, chair of the council's housing management committee, said: "The good working relationship between our housing officers and eb4u team is paying huge dividends. It's more of a community now and that's down to a lot of hard work and investment."