COUNCILLORS have refused permission for a £70 million housing scheme of more than 180 flats close to Hove Railway Station because a lack of affordable homes.

Committee members voted 9 to 2 against proposals to build a development of towers up to 17 storeys high which also included office and retail space in Ellen Street, Hove.

Sussex developers Matsim had offered 18 per cent affordable housing, 35 homes, beneath the 25 per cent deemed viable in an independent assessment by the District Valuer and below the council’s own 40 per cent target.

Councillors back

The scheme had the backing of Hove Civic Society, Hove Station Neighbourhood Plan and The Regency Society and Hove MP Peter Kyle while 22 residents and the council’s heritage, housing and arboriculture teams all objected to the proposals.

The scheme was first unveiled in November 2015 and would transform a site currently home to a series of one-storey industrial units home to Furniture Village, Sussex Autocentre and Essential Catering Supplies.

For more on this story, see tomorrow’s Argus.