A housing crisis is forecast for 2002 as people on modest incomes fail to compete with higher earners moving to the coast.

Property expert Bill Randall predicted an increase in house prices, increase in rents in the private rented sector and a sharp rise in homelessness in Brighton and Hove.

Mr Randall, housing journalist of the year, described the city as South-East England's boom town where £500,000 apartments sit side by side with homelessness and deprivation.

The expert, who lives in the Hanover area of Brighton, was writing in Housing, the magazine for the Chartered Institute of Housing. He said local housing was "all at sea".

He added: "Local people on modest incomes are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the flood of newcomers.

"The result is a mounting housing crisis with a sharp rise in homelessness. Local people are at risk of being priced out of the housing market."

The 58-year-old writer said despite money being pumped into Brighton's council estates, they still look as if they have been abandoned by the council and have suffered from years of neglect and inadequate management.

In his article, Mr Randall referred to the estates at Moulsecoomb and Whitehawk.

He wrote: "These estates, which doggedly hang on to their place in the top ten deprived areas of England, bear all the hallmarks of social exclusion, poor health, unemployment, high rates of crime and vandalism, widespread drug abuse, low educational achievement and environmental neglect."

Mr Randall told our reporter: "I have great concerns about the housing situation in Brighton and Hove.

"We are in a unique situation because there is a 180 degree barrier around the city in the shape of The Downs preventing further development, which increases pressure on the existing housing. The boundaries of the new national park should not be too rigid."

Brighton and Hove City Council leader Ken Bodfish said he shared Mr Randall's concerns about the widening gap between rich and poor in the city, but described his assessment of the problems of Whitehawk and Moulsecoomb as "a load of rubbish".

Coun Bodfish said: "There are serious concerns about the gap between rich and poor in Brighton and Hove and we are trying to do something about it.

"While we have been extremely successful in attracting vibrant people to the city, we must not forget we need to expand the basic local economy by finding more space for housing and employment opportunities."