More than £26 million of Government cash is being spent increasing a city's supply of affordable housing.

A report to Brighton and Hove City Council's housing committee said a £2 million council investment helped secure the money.

The £26 million, which is being distributed between housing associations across the city, began being spent last April and will last until April 2006.

To get the cash the council had to spend £2 million buying brownfield sites where housing could be built or freeing up sites in other ways.

A total of 286 affordable homes were completed in the year between April 2004 and April 2005.

A further 439 have funding and are currently being developed.

The total built includes 139 homes for general use and 37 for people with special needs. About 60 were for key workers.

Some 96 per cent of the homes were built on brownfield or infill sites.

Eight per cent of the new homes were designed for wheelchair users.

A council spokesman said the authority's planning policies were playing a key role in releasing land for affordable homes.

High land prices mean housing associations cannot compete with private developers. As a result the council has a target that private developers include 40 per cent affordable housing in schemes of more than ten units.

The national target is only 30 per cent, though authorities such as Oxford and Greater London have 50 per cent target.

Don Turner, chairman of the council's housing committee, said: "With housing associations the council has been playing a key role co-ordinating the funding and building of much-needed new homes.

"Our 40 per cent target for private developers is unusual, ambitious and achievable but absolutely justified and getting great results."

But Green committee member and housing expert Bill Randall said the 40 per cent target was too low.

Coun Randall said: "While we welcome the housing associations' activities in the city, because they are helping, we think the housing crisis in Brighton is so bad the target should be 50 per cent.

"We have been calling for this for two years and it really needs to happen."

June 13, 2005