“CITY fetish club opens!” screams 'The Argus', Brighton’s newspaper. Another, equally shocking, headline might be “Sun rises again!” Perversity is par for the course here. Indeed, Brighton’s passion — it’s more than just a tolerance — for difference is one of the main reasons why I, and countless others, moved there. That and good rail links to London.

Tom’s Leather Bar (now open opposite the Quaker Meeting House in the ever-touristy Lanes) will soon be just another landmark. Like the Adonis Club, packed with hens screaming at strippers, and the gay bars on St James’s Street.

Julie Burchill explores this liberal tradition in her new book, Made in Brighton. As ever, she’s far from flattering.

But Brighton is changing. Possibly not for the better. New developments spring up everywhere, among them the proposed (and much fêted) Gehry towers. Property-linked prosperity abounds, and every day another wide-eyed Londoner decides to be beside the seaside. According to the Land Registry, prices have risen more than 12 per cent in the past year — more than double the national rate. “People visit for a weekend, then fantasise about moving,” says Louise Brice, of Brice’s estate agents. “Two thirds of my buyers come from London. Their average budget is £250,000. They sell a flat and buy a house and better quality of life.”

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Brice has worked in Brighton for 13 years. I’ve lived here half that time. When I moved here in 1999, Brighton was Brighton, and Hove was Hove. Now the two towns are one city. Then, Hovewas all little old ladies in fur coats. It wasn’t aplace for twentysomethings. Now, gone are the little old ladies. Sadly, too, the fishmongers, butchers and hardware shops I now crave. In their place are bars, restaurants and boutiques. “Hove is almost unrecognisable now,” says Brice. “It’s really happening. All right, you do need to travel to Brighton for fast trains to London, but it’s still commutable.”

“Hove is still classier,” insists Sue Sinclair, a property finder and manager based in Hove for a decade. “It’s busier and louder than it was, but still cleaner and quieter than Brighton. You can walk into Brighton and be in the middle of things, then retreat to your quiet enclave.”

Back then I lived in Brunswick Square, a grand creamy edifice on Hove seafront. Then it felt almost rural. Now it’s a bustling inner-city village. I rented a two-bedroom rooftop flat with roof terrace for £400 a month. Quadruple that now. As for buying, “a one-bed lower ground-floor flat with significant problems and no views will be £165,000 plus”, says Sinclair. “Pay £200,000 plus for a nice one-bedder with sea views. Walk up Brunswick Place and prices drop £10,000 to £20,000.” As does prestige.

The tide has yet to go out on the local market. It took three failed attempts for me to buy before finding our one-bedroom ground-floor conversion in a Victorian terrace in 2003. We bought for £140,000.

“You got a bargain,” says Sinclair. “You’d get £200,000 now,” says Brice. I am not selling. “One-bedroom flats are at an absolute premium,” says Sinclair. “They’re selling on the first or second viewing. If you’re after a house, the Hanover area offers value: you could pay £250,000-plus for a run-down mid-terrace that’s probably been a student house. If you’ve got £500,000, look at the big detached homes along Dyke Road and surrounding roads like Tongdean.”

Buyers there expect a swimming pool as standard. I prefer the sea. A new marvel will soon rise opposite the West Pier. Planning permission has been given for “Brighton i-360”, a 600ft (183m) observation tower by the same designers as the London Eye. Everyone loves it.

More controversial is the £290 million Frank Gehry development. It will be his first UK building and will feature more than 750 flats in two towers each 200ft to 250ft high, surrounded by eight smaller blocks, a new sports centre and new public spaces. The council has granted initial permission. Yet the final result is as clear as sea mist.

Brice approves: “It will give Hove a hub. I’ve bought locally to cash in.” Sinclair agrees: “It will put us on the map. Locals can be too relaxed — this ups our game.”

The other big developer is Barratt, with at least three projects on the go — the biggest is the surprisingly contemporary New England Quarter. “But it’s getting so we can’t breathe,” says Brice. Surely there’s enough sea air for everyone?

Sue Sinclair: susan.sinclair2@btopenworld.com ; Brice’s: 01273 323000, www.brices.co.uk

NEW BRIGHTON CITY POINT, built on a brownfield site by Brighton station, anchors the New England Quarter. Are Barratt’s homes an improvement, though? Surprisingly, yes. A mix of one, two and three-bed flats, each with its own front door, and townhouses topped with glass pods range from £289,995 to £479,995. No Barratt boxes here. Rather than cram in more flats, space has been left for really big communal roof terraces, some with seaviews. Each townhouse has its own roof garden. Some properties are already available as part of a first-time buyers’ initiative: those eligible buy a minimum 50 per cent stake, with English Partnerships providing the rest.

City Point: 01273 689837

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