With its Regency mansions, grand seafront hotels and top–notch restaurants, Brighton is the seaside destination for millions of visitors each year.
Attracted by the city’s well–known tolerance, liberalism and generosity, many people also decide to stay and make it their permanent home.
But the resort’s reputation as an ‘oasis of niceness’ and a ‘city of sanctuary’ has been rocked by a policy affecting its homeless community.
Homeless people say the council is trying to ‘airbrush’ them out of the picture by removing them from Brighton and dumping them in Eastbourne.
In the last two years dozens have found themselves transplanted from the city of their birth and dropped 20 miles down the coast.
Dan Hylands, 34, who was made homeless several years ago, says he was shipped out of the city where he grew up and left without friends, family and a support network.
‘They literally just booked me a taxi and shipped me all the way over here,’ he said. ‘They just dumped me here.’
Mr Hylands, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, had previously been housed in hostels in Brighton but was moved to an out–of–borough placement last July.
Father–of–three Nick Carpenter, 45, (pictured) was moved from Lewes to Eastbourne after he became homeless last October when he split up with his partner of 17 years
Around one in 77 residents in Brighton is homeless, according to analysis by charity Shelter in 2024. (pictured: A homeless man on the seafront at Eastbourne)
He said: ‘Hostels in Brighton were the worst places to be in, full of [drug addicts] and it felt unsafe. Every time I was there two days would be the maximum and then I would end up back on the street. It felt safer than being in those places.’
The 34–year–old was receiving disability treatment in Brighton, which he found difficult to continue in a new area.
He now lives in a house share in Eastbourne rented by Brighton and Hove City Council from a private landlord.
‘I had a social worker for [my] adult disabilities. I had loads of support in Brighton, but because they’ve moved me over here, the caseworkers are not the same.’
The same story is told by Nick Carpenter, 45, a father–of–three, who became homeless last October when he split up with his partner of 17 years.
‘I ended up on the streets,’ he said. ‘It was not a good time. I couldn’t find anywhere to live.’
He was moved from his hometown of Lewes to Eastbourne in an ‘out–of–borough placement’ which has further destabilised his fragile mental health.
Mr Carpenter said: ‘I’m out of my comfort zone in Eastbourne. I don’t have any of my friends or family or support network here. It’s difficult trying to start again in a strange place.’
He said councils in affluent cities are loathe to pay the high rents demanded by landlords to house homeless people and have ‘cynically’ moved people to places where rents are cheaper.
‘It’s really cynical. It’s people’s lives they’re affecting here. I live to see my three girls but it’s difficult getting to see them now.’
All UK councils are legally required to provide emergency housing to homeless people, but many of them do so by sending them to other parts of the country and paying those councils for their accommodation.
Alex Haward works at Matthew 25, a Christian homelessness charity that provides food and shelter for people.
Should Brighton be allowed to move its homeless problem to another town?
The Brighton and Hove City Council says the number of people placed in Eastbourne is down from a peak of 198 in September 2025. (pictured: Eastbourne Pier and Eastbourne seafront in East Sussex)
They offer outreach mental health services with a specialist nurse, housing and legal advice as well as somewhere to get food, meet friends and stay warm.
He estimates there were between 70 and 80 new people from Brighton relying on them since the end of 2024.
He said: ‘We’re not being overwhelmed just yet but it’s got a lot busier in the last couple of years.
‘I don’t agree with the policy. Councils are picking up very vulnerable people and removing them from their family, friends and support networks and then dumping them in Eastbourne.
‘These are people, often with very complex mental health issues, who are being destabilised by the very system put in place to help them. It doesn’t make sense. They have and ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach to the problem.
‘A lot of it is to do with cost. Rents and demand for accommodation in places like Brighton and Lewes are high, whereas rents are cheaper here. It’s all about the money they can save.’
He said those with complex needs did not have the right support in the town and were often left in limbo.
‘We had one man who was wheelchair bound and had a stoma. He clearly had complex medical needs. He was eventually sent to Great Yarmouth where he had a support network of family but the council point blank refused to help him. It’s shocking.’
He said: ‘The lack of information for people being passed to us is quite difficult. When they are from Brighton it makes that problem even more difficult.
Around one in 77 residents in Brighton is homeless, according to analysis by charity Shelter in 2024. This compares to one in 160 across England and one in 47 in London.
In 2023 Brighton and Hove City Council sent 42 people to be housed in Eastbourne but that number has risen fourfold to 171 as of January, according to figures from Eastbourne Borough Council.
The policy led to a row between the two town halls with Eastbourne accusing Brighton of implementing a policy that had a ‘significantly negative impact’ on their town.
Tensions between the councils came to a head last year when two homeless men from Brighton died while living in emergency accommodation in Eastbourne.
Eastbourne Council, which run by the Liberal Democrats, accused Brighton of ‘directly influencing’ their deaths though a coroner later ruled out accommodation as a contributing factor in both cases.
However Eastbourne has now demanded the policy is stopped and demanded Brighton starts to tackle its own homeless problem.
Cllr Peter Diplock, cabinet member for Housing and Homelessness, said: ‘We are calling for urgent action to bring this situation under control. This council prioritises supporting residents in need, but we cannot continue to act as a pressure valve for neighbouring authorities who have not found sustainable solutions to their own housing shortages. It places vulnerable people at risk, and this situation must change.’
Josh Babarinde, Liberal Democrat MP for Eastbourne, said: ‘Out of borough placements should never be made for financial reasons because it betrays those people being placed. It leaves already vulnerable people further at risk and it puts undue pressure on local authorities and charities who pick up the pieces.
‘All such placements should only be made if they fulfil strict criteria – for example the person is fleeing domestic abuse or suchlike – and their package of medical and mental health care should follow them at all times.’
Mr Babarinde, who was born and raised in the town, has also been campaigning to raise awareness about the issue.
‘I am speaking with the Government about bringing in financial disincentives to stop the unnecessary out of boundary placements.’
He said: ‘No one should be treated in that way. Brighton has been repeatedly challenged about this but have failed to address it. For them, it seems jettisoning people out of the area means the problem is out of sight and out of mind.’
Eastbourne has historically attracted elderly retirees looking to spend their twilight years by the sea. As of the last census, some 28pc of adults in the town are retired.
But many are upset with the impact homelessness is having on their town claiming the number of people sleeping rough on the streets has grown massively since the Covid pandemic and tent communities have sprung up near the train station and seafront.
Albert and Gillian Andrews moved to the resort nine years ago from Watford and say the homeless problem has changed the town.
‘It’s not the same,’ said Mrs Andrews, 73. ‘There are far more of them, camping out in the parks, near the train station and on the beach. It’s not fair on them but also not fair on residents.’
Mr Andrews, 77, said: ‘You see the tents springing up all over the place. It’s very noticeable. Obviously its cheaper for Brighton to dump its homeless people here where the rents are cheaper but it isn’t fair. It’s just a shame our council can’t stand up to them and tell them to stop.’
Philippa Nelson and friend Debbie Howarth say the homeless problem needs to be addressed as it is destroying Eastbourne’s tourist trade and changing the face of the resort.
‘It’s very visible these days,’ said Mrs Nelson. ‘Given these people are already very vulnerable it doesn’t make sense to further destabilise them by taking them away from friends and family.’
Mrs Howarth, who was born and brought up in Eastbourne, said: ‘I think it should stop. Simply dumping people here because it’s cheaper is wrong.’
Cllr Peter Diplock added: ‘We have long campaigned and called for neighbouring authorities to make housing placements within their own city boundaries, unless there are safeguarding reasons not to. The reasons are obvious – those placed remain closer to their networks, their support services and their authority.
‘We have also spoken out against the scale of out of area placements into Eastbourne – particularly by Brighton & Hove City Council. This is completely unsustainable and is placing a disproportionate burden on Eastbourne’s services, charities and voluntary organisations.
‘We remain extremely frustrated that Brighton & Hove City Council continues to rely so heavily on Eastbourne to accommodate many of their most vulnerable residents. It increases the risks to those placed here, and we continue to raise our concerns at every level regarding this.’
Brighton, which has some of the highest rates of homelessness in the country, has previously called claims that it is failing to resolve its homelessness issue ‘wildly inaccurate’ and ‘extremely unfair’.
It says the number of people placed in Eastbourne is down from a peak of 198 in September 2025.
It says latest figures show there are currently 402 households in temporary accommodation out–of–area.
Cllr Gill Williams, cabinet member for housing at the council said: ‘We have some of the south east’s best figures for prevention of homelessness, but the demand for emergency and temporary accommodation far exceeds the amount available to us in the city. This means sometimes we have no choice but to use out–of–city emergency placements.
‘We prioritise keeping people within Brighton & Hove wherever we can and return people in emergency placements back to the city as soon as possible.
‘We’re working hard to increase available housing in our city and to expand temporary accommodation provision locally and are seeing this commitment reflected in a recent reduction in the number of households placed by us in Eastbourne.
‘Like many UK councils, Brighton & Hove is grappling with an unprecedented scale of need. The ongoing claims being made against our council are wildly inaccurate, extremely unfair and undermine the work our partners and housing teams do to support people in a housing crisis.
‘It is also incredibly disappointing to see elected politicians use dehumanising language when discussing people’s lives and experiences. It does nothing to help address the complex issues we’re facing.’