PROTESTERS have gathered outside the Brighton and Hove Green Party offices to demand action on landlord licensing.

Acorn, the Community Union, has taken against the Brighton Greens for "failing renters in the city", as the council plans to "backtrack" on commitments to license landlords in Brighton.

According to the union, an advanced report from Brighton and Hove City Council's Housing Committee on Wednesday recommends that the council no longer pursue plans to introduce a mandatory licensing scheme for landlords.

It will instead "support renters to understand what legal remedies are available to them."

The community Union claims this goes against commitments made to them over the past year that the council was committed to landlord licensing.

Ellen, Acorn Brighton Branch Secretary said: "This report is incredibly disappointing.

"We have tried really hard to work with the Green administration over the past year.

"We have had several meetings with Green Housing Co-Chair David Gibson and Housing Officers where we asked for their support in stopping evictions and improving conditions for renters and so far little to no action has been taken.

"One of the few things they did commit to was introducing landlord licensing schemes.

"Over the past year we have pushed Cllr David Gibson to give us a time frame as to when we can expect this and he has on several occasions refused to commit to one.

"Now his administration has put out a report - without any acknowledgement or consultation with us - that the council recommends they pull the plug on landlord licensing.

"It is really difficult to not feel incredibly let down and betrayed at this point, and hard to see how we can work with the Green council unless they seriously change their approach."

The city council report reads: "Housing Committee note that, as outlined in paragraph 5.1, officers will seek to support renters to understand what legal remedies are available to them under the Private Sector Housing Enforcement Strategy, including any provided by new legislation in this area."