AROUND a quarter of new flats at the £250 million Brighton Marina development are set to be occupied by overseas students or second home owners from outside Sussex.

Estate agents Leaders said there had been significant interest in the luxury flats from families of Chinese and Saudi Arabian students with some sales conducted solely online.

Campaigners have warned the major housing development will do nothing to solve the city’s housing crisis with residents priced out.

They said the city could not afford to “waste precious housing resources” catering to second home buyers and overseas students when 25,000 residents sat on the council’s housing waiting list.

Brunswick Developments director Andrew Goodall said the development would bring huge economic benefits to the city and would relieve housing pressure in the city centre.

Just 20 flats to buy remain available in the first phase of the marina development - starting at £427,450 for a one bedroom flat, around £530,000 for two bedroom properties and three bed properties at up to £798,250.

A luxurious three-bedroom penthouse with a giant terrace balcony of 450 sq ft is on the market for more than £1.1 million.

A similar number of flats to rent are also remaining, beginning at £1,600 a month for a one-bedroom flat, rising to £2,329 for two bedroom apartments and peaking at over £3,000.

Leaders staff said the flats were priced at those looking to have a “bit of luxury in their lives” with new residents expected to move in within days.

Councillor David Gibson, Green housing spokesman at the city council, described the Marina as a "prime example" of the complete lack of affordability in the private housing market.

He said: “At a time when space is tight and the city is unable to meet its housing demand alone, we cannot to afford to waste precious housing resources catering to overseas buyers and the second home market.

“It’s simply unfair that people who have lived in the city all their lives are forced to move out of the city.”

Mr Goodall, whose Brunswick Developments bought into the marina in 1996, said: “I fully understand the concerns of local residents who have seen house prices in Brighton rise onwards and upwards to the point where they struggle to afford anywhere in the city.

“By providing accommodation at the marina, we are relieving pressure elsewhere.”

More than 500 interested house hunters attended an open day at the development earlier this month organised by Leaders who have been marketing the sale of 175 properties since January and flats for rent within the last six weeks.

Greg Hall, Brighton Marina branch manager, described the properties as the finest waterside homes available anywhere in the UK.

For more information contact Leaders in Brighton Marina on 01273 622007 or visit leaders.co.uk

‘IT’S SOCIAL CLEANSING OF ORDINARY WORKING PEOPLE’

IT WAS the modern and global version of an age-old scenario – a concerned parent checking out whether student digs were suitable for their offspring.

On this occasion though it was an estate agent taking a Chinese mother on a tour of a highly sought-after luxury flat via the videophone app FaceTime.

The offer that the flat can come fully furnished with Ikea furniture at no extra cost was probably enough to convince this Tiger mother her child would be living well when studying more than 8,000km from home.

The parent is among scores of families around the globe who have been snapping up flats at the £250 million waterfront development.

It probably should come as no surprise that there is global interest in this project when the development’s real estate managers GRE Assets have offices in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Barcelona.

Growing numbers of overseas students are just one of the many pressures on the city’s housing market.

The number of overseas students at the University of Sussex has risen significantly in recent years alongside its growing international reputation.

At this week’s graduation, almost a third of the 3,500 students collecting their degrees were from abroad.

The number of Chinese students in particular has soared, between 2009 and 2014 it rose almost seven-fold to 829.

But with tuition fees for overseas students ranging from £14,800 to £27,405 a year, it is quite often the preserve of the wealthiest overseas families who might find £2,000 a month in rent perfectly within their budget.

The city also plays host to more than half a million foreign language students a year who all need a roof over their heads.

Andrew Goodall, of Brunswick Developments, said: “I don’t see housing overseas students as a problem.

“That student will be coming to the city to study whatever.

“What has been happening over many years is that students have been moving into city centre houses, sometimes big family houses, HMOs, which reduces the proportion of housing available in the city.

“As long as there are people living in the properties, who it is I think is pretty academic.”

Staff at Leaders said there had been a real mixture of interested buyers and renters with around half the properties being bought for letting.

A further quarter of buyers were Sussex-based including existing marina residents while remaining clients were either foreign students or from outside Sussex looking for second homes or to relocate.

Mr Goodall said that the high costs attached to the project and current market rates meant that it was always likely the properties might be out of reach of first-time buyers.

The marina prices comfortably exceed the average house price in Brighton and Hove of around £300,000 and the average two- bedroom rent of around £1,300.

Mr Goodall said: “I think the quality is high, this is what the city is crying out for because there’s not that many big developments.

“These open market units were never going to be affordable to first-time buyers without them getting support.

“Building costs in the marina are huge, building on reclaimed land is not cheap.”

Twenty of the properties in the new development have been designated as affordable housing – at between £330,000 and £385,000.

Six of the two-bedroom properties have already been snapped up through a shared ownership scheme with housing association Moat.

Mr Goodall said: “If some of these properties are going to key workers in the city then my feeling is that can only be a good thing.

“When you are making a £500,000 property available for £200,000, then you have to find money to achieve that.”

Living Rent campaigner Diane Montgomery said that most new builds in the city were now “vastly beyond the reach of ordinary people” with even housing associations no longer letting at social rents.

She said: “We have a situation of social cleansing of ordinary working people and people on benefits who cannot find anywhere to live in Brighton and Hove.”

She said the market could no longer regulate itself and that an overhaul of the country’s housing was needed with more social housing at affordable rents, private rent caps, regulation of landlords and the abolition of right to buy.

Councillor David Gibson supported the call for immediate action.

He said: “We urgently need to build new homes at living rents or low-cost sale.

“Our council should follow the lead of other councils and press ahead in creating a local authority-owned housing company to build more homes that our residents can truly afford.”

Councillor Anne Meadows, chairwoman of the council’s housing and new homes committee, said the marina development will eventually provide 341 affordable or shared ownership homes when all 11 towers are completed.

She added: “The shortage of affordable housing is a national as well as local issue.

“Councils have no powers to regulate either house prices or who developers sell homes to and we also have no powers to control private sector rents.”

An open day for Moat homes with shared ownership is on Saturday, July 30 by appointment only, see moat-theboardwalk.co.uk