Brighton Gasworks paused as Berkeley reviews 495-home scheme

Brighton Gasworks has been paused while Berkeley reviews whether and how to proceed with the 495-home scheme it won on appeal last year.

The developer has told Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven MP Chris Ward that rising construction costs and subdued housing market conditions have forced a review of the project. Berkeley is exploring “all available options” and expects that review to run until the end of 2026.

That makes this more than a local project delay. The scheme already has planning permission following a recovered appeal, yet the combination of remediation costs, market conditions and development viability is still preventing a start on the homes themselves.

Berkeley says Brighton Gasworks is under review

Chris Ward published the update on 2nd October 2026 after asking Berkeley Homes for clarity on the future of the site.

According to the MP, Berkeley confirmed that the Brighton Gasworks development is currently paused while it reviews the scheme because of rising construction costs and subdued conditions in the housing market.

The company has not announced a new construction start date for the homes. It has, however, indicated that demolition of the former gasholders and initial remediation work is expected to begin in spring 2027, with that phase anticipated to run into 2028.

Berkeley also intends to establish a Community Liaison Group involving local residents and Brighton & Hove City Council before those works begin. This is already required by condition 6 of the permission, which calls for an approved scheme for the group before development commences.

Mr Ward said that “the development itself is effectively paused while Berkeley reviews its options”.

The full update is available on Chris Ward MP’s website.

A permission won after a long planning fight

The position is striking because planning permission is not the unresolved part of the project.

St William Homes LLP, part of the Berkeley Group, applied for a comprehensive mixed-use redevelopment of the two-hectare former gasworks site. Brighton & Hove City Council’s Planning Committee refused the application in May 2024, against officer advice.

The appeal was recovered for ministerial determination. After a public inquiry in March 2025, Inspector D M Young recommended that the appeal be allowed. Housing minister Matthew Pennycook agreed and granted planning permission on 22nd September 2025.

The approved scheme comprises 495 homes, flexible commercial floorspace, public realm, landscaping, parking and associated infrastructure. Buildings range from three to 12 storeys.

The recovered appeal decision and Inspector’s Report, APP/Q1445/W/24/3353409, confirm that the Secretary of State considered the site to be allocated for significant development and accepted the need to maximise development on previously developed brownfield land.

It also records an important viability point. The Secretary of State agreed that redeveloping the site for a lower number of homes was unlikely to be viable given the high cost of remediation.

The scheme already had a viability problem

Brighton Gasworks therefore exposes a distinction which is becoming increasingly important across the housing market. Securing permission and securing a deliverable development are not the same thing.

The appeal process had already established that the scheme could not viably provide affordable housing on the agreed appraisal assumptions because of the cost of remediating the contaminated site.

The Secretary of State recorded that position as common ground between the council and the appellant. The planning obligations require reasonable endeavours and a review mechanism to seek affordable housing if circumstances improve, but there is no guaranteed affordable housing provision in the permission.

The agreed inquiry evidence said that grant funding or an improvement in viability could potentially support up to 198 affordable homes, comprising 109 affordable rent homes and 89 shared ownership homes.

The obligations provide a route to pursue funding and capture improved viability, rather than a permanent exemption from affordable housing. The minister gave that prospect no positive weight because delivery was not guaranteed.

That matters now. Berkeley’s new explanation points to higher construction costs and subdued housing market conditions as reasons for reviewing the project. Those pressures sit on top of remediation costs which were already central to the viability case considered at appeal.

Planning Geek has recently reported that the wider housing pipeline is down sharply and that planning delays are putting particular pressure on SME housebuilders. Brighton shows the other side of the delivery problem: even a major developer with permission for a large brownfield scheme can still conclude that the numbers need another look.

Permission still has a clock attached

The planning permission requires development to commence within three years of the decision. On the face of the condition, that means the permission must be implemented by 22nd September 2028.

Berkeley’s current programme suggests gasholder demolition and initial remediation could begin in spring 2027 and continue during 2028. Whether those works would lawfully constitute commencement of the permitted development will depend on precisely what is undertaken, the approved phasing and conditions, and whether any pre-commencement requirements have been satisfied.

It would therefore be wrong to assume that demolition alone automatically keeps the permission alive.

The permission includes a condition requiring a phasing plan to be submitted and approved before development commences. Other conditions deal with remediation, drainage, construction and environmental matters.

For consultants advising on schemes facing viability delays, this is a useful reminder to audit implementation strategy well before a permission approaches expiry. A development can have political support, an appeal win and a commercially valuable consent, yet still be exposed if the lawful commencement route is not properly managed.

Rising costs are now a planning delivery issue

The Brighton update also deserves attention beyond Berkeley because it illustrates how planning policy and market delivery can diverge.

National policy is placing increasing weight on housing delivery, brownfield redevelopment and making efficient use of land. But higher construction costs, remediation liabilities, finance costs and weaker sales conditions can stop a consented scheme from moving at the pace assumed when the permission was granted.

That has consequences for local planning authorities as well as developers. Housing trajectories can include sites with permission which are not yet commercially ready to start. Five-year supply and delivery assumptions need to distinguish between a site being technically available and there being credible evidence that homes will actually come forward within the relevant period.

The same issue affects affordable housing negotiations. A scheme which begins from a nil affordable housing position because of viability may produce more affordable housing if values improve, but a deteriorating market can move the economics in the opposite direction.

This is why review mechanisms matter. They do not guarantee affordable housing, but they provide a route to capture an improvement if the commercial position changes later.

Remediation may proceed before the homes

Berkeley’s current position does not mean the site is being abandoned.

The company has indicated that demolition of the gas holders and initial remediation are still expected to begin next spring. On a contaminated former gasworks, those works are significant in their own right and will require careful management of dust, noise, traffic and environmental risks.

The Brighton appeal decision concluded that contamination risks could be addressed by planning conditions. Residents have nevertheless raised concerns about remediation throughout the planning and appeal process, which is one reason the promised liaison group will matter.

For the development itself, the more important unknown is what emerges from Berkeley’s review. We do not yet know whether Berkeley will proceed as approved, change its delivery arrangements or seek a revised permission. The MP’s update does not identify which options are being assessed.

The MP’s update does not announce a revised planning application.

What consultants should take from Brighton Gasworks

Brighton Gasworks is a useful reality check for anyone treating the grant of permission as the end of the development process.

On complex brownfield sites, the critical path after consent can include remediation, condition discharge, funding, procurement, sales assumptions, affordable housing review mechanisms and the legal requirements for commencement.

The permission is valuable, but it does not remove those risks.

The scheme also reinforces the importance of testing viability assumptions against changing market conditions. A viability conclusion reached during an application or appeal is a snapshot. Construction costs, finance, sales values and grant availability can all move before a shovel goes into the ground.

For Berkeley, the immediate task is to complete its review by the end of the year. For Brighton, the practical question is whether the 495-home permission can be converted into a deliverable scheme before its implementation deadline becomes another constraint.

We will be watching for the outcome of the review, any revised planning proposals and the start of remediation works.