Protesters disrupt Brighton and Hove council meeting.

Protesters disrupted a council meeting last night.

Acorn Brighton, which advocates for more equitable housing, displayed banners from the public balcony of Hove Town Hall, calling for a bailiff-free Britain.

The group halted the meeting for nearly 15 minutes, prompting councillors to leave the Brighton and Hove City Council chamber until the demonstrators had left.

Labour council leader Bella Sankey stated that they had interrupted a meeting in which the cabinet was about to agree further financing for hundreds of really affordable homes on the old Sackville Trading Estate.

Acorn Brighton stated: “Despite committing to work towards lowering bailiff use, a recent FOI (freedom of information request) revealed that Brighton and Hove City Council deployed bailiffs 11,000 times last year, a huge 120 percent increase from the previous year.

“So today’s Acorn Brighton action was a declaration of purpose. If our members cannot live in peace, the council will be unable to meet in peace.” Cllr Sankey stated that the campaign group used out-of-date numbers, and that the council has now modified its policy.

The council stated that it engaged bailiffs only as a last resort, even when all other methods of collecting overdue funds had failed.

Acorn Brighton chairperson Keziah Hall, who was present at the town hall, said: “It’s a travesty that this so-called Labour council has dispatched 11,000 bailiffs to threaten our city’s most vulnerable residents.

“We made it very clear to them today that we’re not going to put up with it and unless they immediately agree to stop, we’ll be back!”

Cllr Sankey stated: “The stunt in the chamber today occurred while our Labour cabinet was attempting to invest millions of pounds in the construction of 306 new affordable homes, including 183 council homes for city residents.”

“That is hardly the behaviour of a campaigning organisation that actually cares about creating houses and assisting vulnerable people.

“Even more oddly, they appear to have overlooked the fact that in March 2025, we implemented a new debt management policy to guarantee that we can support, rather than punish, people experiencing hardship.

“The statistics they are quoting are for the previous year – before we changed council policy – and are exactly why our Labour council has adopted a more progressive approach, putting Labour values into action.”

The council leader also referred to the group’s involvement in the Queen’s Park by-election campaign earlier this year. Acorn Brighton apologised after being referred to the police for misrepresenting two candidates, a violation of electoral law.

Sussex Police stated they would not pursue any further action once the group apologised and published a correction. The group apologised to Labour candidate Simon Charleton and Independent Adrian Hart.

Marina Lademacher, a Green candidate, won the September by-election. Back in the chamber, the cabinet agreed an additional £2.6 million for its joint venture with the housing association Hyde Group.

The joint venture, Homes for Brighton and Hove, intends to develop 306 units as part of a £100 million scheme. The additional financing will bring the council’s part of the program to little over £60 million, providing 183 flats for rent.

Hyde will keep the title of the land and administer a shared ownership arrangement for its 123 houses on the plot adjacent to the 564 new Moda units.

Labour councillor Gill Williams, the council’s cabinet member for housing, announced that one, two, three, and four-bedroom apartments would be available, as well as 15 additional dwellings for persons with impairments.

“It reflects our commitment to truly affordable housing,” she told me. “This is more than just a place to live. “It’s a place to thrive.”

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