Bond could be used to help first-time buyers

Proposals contained in the 2015 Budget for a government loan to raise between £250m. and £330m. for trading entities such as Guernsey Electricity, the Guernsey Housing Association and Aurigny, will be debated next week.

Deputy Heidi Soulsby, pictured, has submitted an amendment for Housing and Treasury and Resources to submit a joint report setting out proposals for some of it to be used for a young-buyer scheme.

She said she had been concerned for some time that nothing was being done to help people get on the property ladder. She had hoped this would be addressed in the 2015 budget.

'When I was knocking on doors during the last election campaign I met young, hard-working families who were living with their parents because they just couldn't afford a new house,' she said. 'It is now two-and-a-half years since the election and nothing has been done to help them, and I know that for most of those families, their position hasn't changed since 2012.

'This has contributed to the stagnation of the local property market, which in turn has impacted on the economy.'