An 11 per cent rise in house prices across the country was recorded by the Nationwide Building Society last month, the highest since the property boom of the late

Eighties.

Figures for the South East have topped the national average, with estimates from Nationwide pointing to a 15 per cent rise. This means a flat on the market for £70,000 this time last year, may now be worth as much as £80,500.

House prices are higher in Brighton than nearly anywhere else in the country, with only London, Poole, Surrey and parts of Berkshire seeing greater

increases.

There are always winners and losers in the property-market scramble.

And John Holnstrom, of Brighton Housing Trust, said: "Right now it's a landlord's market."

Brighton has a huge demand for rented property and price rises have given landlords the chance to cash in, either by charging very high rents or selling their properties at huge profit.

Ben McFarland believes he has been a victim of the boom. He was due to move into a property in Brighton at the end of September but was horrified when the deal fell through. He believes it was because the landlord decided to sell instead.

He said he was at the mercy of an unstable market which leaves renters in the lurch.

Mr McFarland said: "I was totally ready to move in when I found out I wouldn't be able to. I put the deposit down and references were being processed, but it still fell through.

"I was disappointed, but I didn't get angry until my flatmate said his friend had met a bloke in the pub who had just bought the house I was due to move into. He even said he was having a party there - the weekend before I had been due to move in!"

Mr McFarland was left with ten days to find a new property before his current lease ran out.

He said: "I think the landlord was putting the flat on the market and hedging his bets at the same time by trying to let it."

Mr Holnstrom agrees landlords are being tempted to sell up and move on, leaving tenants in the lurch.

And Phil Oakley, of Brighton-based Ashford and Dean Estate Agents, pinpointed the trend to professional landlords who have bought lots of property in the past.

He said: "Some are now selling off parts of their portfolio to cash in on the boom."

Brighton has some of the worst levels of homelessness in the country, and there are fears instability in the housing market could push numbers even higher.

A Brighton and Hove Council spokesman said: "Applications for council accommodation because a private tenancy in a rented property had come to an end, rose steadily from June to April this year, although they have been dipping since."

Some estate agents do not think there is a problem with landlords selling up.

Danny Ross, manager of a Brighton branch of Halifax Property Services, said: "I don't think it's a particularly bad time to look for somewhere to rent. Landlords are looking around and thinking now is a good time to sell - but that's not to say people are being forced out of their homes.

"They have at least eight weeks to find something and with the number of agents there are in Brighton that should be enough. It's a total inconvenience, but it's not a disaster."

Mr Oakley said the property boom was hitting Brighton's rental sector hard.

He said "There are all sorts of industries which employ grade-A renters in Brighton - education, the media and so on. The growth in these industries has meant an explosion in the rental market and prices have gone sky high."

Mr Holnstrom said rents were being pushed up because of people who work in London coming to Brighton, either to relocate or commute because rents are, so far, cheaper here.

A Nationwide survey in July showed that rents in some parts of London are increasing at rates of up to 30 per cent, making Brighton a relative bargain.

Executive PA Mandy Smith, who moved to Brighton from London earlier this year, said: "I definitely thought it would be cheaper living down here. I'm paying £300 a month rent now, when it was £410 in London."

Mr Holnstrom said: "Since last Christmas, rents in Brighton have gone up more rapidly than ever before and there will be higher rents to come.

"Housing Benefit levels are just not keeping pace with rising rents - there's consistently a £10 to £20 shortfall."

Brighton Housing Trust sees around 1,600 new accommodation clients a year. Two years ago, 900 of these people were being placed in housing, but the number has shrunk to 600.

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