Crunch talks have been held to try to prevent property developers from deserting Brighton and Hove.

Ten developers met Brighton and Hove City Council top brass last week to complain about what they say are lengthy delays in the planning department.

They claim the situation is so bad that some developers have threatened never to do business in the city again.

One described how it took eight years to build a modern bungalow on the outskirts of the city.

It led to the developer’s main investor, described as a major UK landlord, to say: “I will invest with you anywhere in the UK, anywhere, but I will not invest in any more projects in Brighton and Hove Council. No more.”

Council leader Mary Mears, chief executive John Barradell and Linda Hyde, chairman of the planning committee, met the developers.

Health and safety consultant Graham Cosham, who led the delegation, estimates that planning problems add an extra 20% to building costs and said, if the developers up sticks, up to £40 million of investment will go with them.

He said: “In my job I hear the same thing from a lot of developers who don’t know each other but are all having the same problems.”

One builder, who deals with planning conditions imposed by the council after permission has been given, says he was faced with a 12- week delay after officers lost all the material samples and paperwork he had sent in.

He said: “It is very, very frustrating.

When you are delayed for three months it delays the next project, which has a knock-on effect on employment and can cause issues with the bank.”

Josh Arghiros, of Karis, which was behind the recent Black Lion Street development and illfated King Alfred scheme with Dutch bank ING, did not attend the meeting but shares the same concerns.

He said: “You will have issues over planning in any council. The problem is the way different people interpret the rules.

“It can be quite subjective, with some officers taking a view that others might not. There needs to be a more consistent approach.”

Another concerned developer who was not at the meeting was Lewis Watt, of Hove-based Creative Developments UK, behind the conversion of The Star of Brunswick pub, which received a Sussex Heritage Award.

He criticised the council for stopping pre-commencement discussions with officers, which were a way to explore the viability of potential developments without having to produce an expensive written application.

He also hit out at the car-free policy which is applied to some city centre developments, which means that houses are built without any parking areas where the council feels there is already too much congestion.

Mr Watts said: “It is a real bone of contention because it makes a development completely untenable. People don’t want to buy a car-free home and banks don’t want to fund them.”

The complaints come at a time when the need for new housing has never been greater.

Earlier this month, the think tank Centre For Cities said Brighton and Hove was in danger of squandering a good opportunity to recover strongly from the recession unless many more new homes are built.

Mr Cosham said the developers were encouraged by last week’s meeting and believes that pressure will be put on planning officers to be more helpful.

A council spokesman refused to discuss the meeting.

He said: “It was a private meeting with some private individuals and we don’t feel it would be right to report what happened.”

● THE issue of the lack of development within Brighton and Hove has been a hot topic for many months.

Last September, seven business leaders wrote to The Argus outlining their concerns after a scheme for Brighton Marina was rejected by councillors despite being approved by planning officers.

The letter, signed by business owners, legal experts and developers, said the city was in danger of gaining a “negative reputation” among inward investors and called for greater leadership from the council.