Housing's 300 homes target: 'not all need to be new properties'
A HOUSING target of 300 homes per year does not mean they must all be new properties, the Housing Department has said in response to criticism over the figure.
Last week Charles McHugh of the Strategic Development Partnership said that the policy of building 300 homes a year was outdated, unnecessary and could be damaging to the market.
The States will be asked to agree that figure at its meeting in September.
But Housing Strategy and Operations principal officer Jim Roberts said the figure should not be interpreted as building 300 brand new homes.
'It could be old buildings turned into properties, it is very easy for the argument to be conceptualised as building 300 a year.
'The Housing Needs survey came back with a figure of needing 451 houses a year, but it is not as straightforward as saying here is this figure.
'The last thing we want to do is be accused of misleading the States.'
