Who does he think he is?

The idea for the Building Opinions column in Latest Homes came about during a chance meeting with one of the magazine’s owners, Angi Mariani, at a Deep Purple concert at the Brighton Centre early in 2005.

The exciting Brighton-based publication has proved to be a perfect outlet for my thoughts on conservation and development around Brighton & Hove. A different building is studied each week so that the mistakes and triumphs of our built environment will not be forgotten.

I was born in 1980 in Croydon and moved to Hove in 1998 to study Electrical & Electronic Engineering at the University of Sussex. Like many visitors before me, the area’s charm was irresistible so I stayed on and began exploring. First I discovered the various tunnels around town – from the efficient Victorian sewers to the passages within and under the Royal Pavilion. The stunning Regency squares and crescents came next. The list goes on.

Following several years working for a surveying firm in Brighton, I was invited to run Nicholas Boles’s Parliamentary campaign in Hove for the year leading up to the 2005 General Election. It was too good an opportunity to miss and I was tremendously disappointed that we lost by 420 votes. The next five years was spent in the House of Commons as Researcher to Michael Gove MP (formerly Shadow Minister for Housing & Planning and today Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools & Families). In 2007, I fought for a place on Brighton & Hove City Council in Regency Ward during the local elections and in a by-election but was unsuccessful on both occasions.

I bought my first property over ten years ago as a student back when property was actually affordable. The venture has steadily grown into a modest business specialising in the purchase and retention of historic buildings in need of sensitive restoration. The most exciting project to date, which is still ongoing in fact, has been acting as a planning consultant to the owners of Brighton Aquarium during the building’s rejuvenation.

I have also been a trustee of the Regency Society of Brighton & Hove for a number of years and much inspiration comes from my fellow committee members (though any mistakes in my column are, of course, my own!).

Please do let me know if there are any topics that you would like to see featured.