Residents claim to have been left in the dark about building work, which they say will block out the light to their homes.

Residents living in Ebenezer Apartments in Ivory Place have made a formal complaint to Brighton and Hove City Council on the grounds they were not given suitable notification of plans to build a five- storey block – including offices and four flats – overlooking their homes.

They claim that once the building work is complete, many of their homes will have “well below” the minimum levels of natural light.

They said they had not had notification or even seen notices from a series of planning applications dating between 2010 to last year and so were not in a position to raise their objections. They argue notices put up in the area were for the benefit of social housing residents in nearby Ashton Rise flats and the Ebenezer Reformed Church – neither of which will be substantially affected by the building in Richmond Parade.

No notices were put en route from their homes to bus routes or nearby shops, where they would be likely to see, they added.

The plans were approved in September by council officers under delegated powers. Labour parliamentary and council candidates Nancy Platts and Adrian Morris have backed the residents’ battle.

Resident Leigh Cardona Britton said: “The foundations have gone in and the bricks are outside. It’s reached a less noisy stage but it’s hard to bear seeing it going up. It’s psychologically damaging.”

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokeswoman said permissions for redevelopment had been in place since 2005 and the land owner had since extended the time limit.

She added: “All planning applications are advertised and consultation takes place through a combination of notification letters and site notices. There have been no breaches of planning control. We are aware of the concerns of residents about the impact of the development and particularly noise and disturbance.

“Our environmental health and planning officers will visit the site to ensure the construction workers are aware of their duties.”

Background

Natural light is a commodity that can be bought, sold or even transferred between parties. Once a window has received over 20 years of unobstructed daylight, it automatically earns itself a Right of Light.

Generally it is accepted practice that, provided a developer ensures that any room of an adjoining owner has more than fifty per cent of it lit to an adequate level, then it is likely that compensation will be an adequate remedy.

One of the most common methods of measuring light is the 45 degrees rule where a line is drawn from the mid-point of the sill of a window and if the proposed development crosses that line it is unlikely to be acceptable.