The YMCA has been providing a safe haven for young people in Sussex for many years -not just by providing temporary accommodation - but by offering help and support concerning access to services, supporting families and providing suitable accommodation to avert the breakdown of families and prevent young people from leaving home in the first place. The Big Sleep Easy is a great event to raise awareness and encourage people to support the great work the YMCA does.

When I got to the event everyone was busy making their night shelters from cardboard and there was certainly a lot of creative thought going into some of them! It meant I got a chance to warm my hands on the brazier Chair of Sussex Central YMCA Ian Chisnall (left) and Chief Executive of YMCA Sussex Central David Standing (centre) about the essential work they do in Brighton to support people who find themselves homeless.

I visited all of the temporary cardboard homes and spoke to their occupants. One woman was there with her two children who were exceptionally excited about spending the night under the stars, but she told me if it hadn't been for YMCA, they would have been doing it because they had to, rather than to raise money - she said to me, "YMCA saved my life, I don't know where I would have been without them.”

It's a sobering thought and I have huge admiration for everyone who stayed out on such a freezing cold night to raise over £3000 for YMCA.

I have been campaigning for nearly two years on behalf of residents to tackle the problems caused by the concentration of HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) and over-development of homes in the Brighton Pavilion constituency. I am pleased that the Government has listened and taken the right action. You can read two of my previous letters in the Argus in 2008 and last year. Last year I met with John Healey and in 2008 I met his predecessor Caroline Flint to make the case of Brighton residents and students alike.

The new powers are good news for residents and for students who want to live in the community. It will enable and empower Brighton and Hove City Council to crack down on bad landlords who offer low quality accommodation to students and ensure we have more homes available for families.

It is exactly what I have been calling for and we now need the Council to rise to the challenge and use these powers to maintain mixed communities and keep a much-needed register of landlords so, if there are problems, tenants and residents have somewhere to turn.