Why should house price ratio be so expensive? expert asks
NEW options and incentives could be explored in Guernsey to help people onto the housing ladder and boost the island's static market, a visiting expert said yesterday.
Professor Christine Whitehead, who is a leading academic and expert in the fields of housing and planning and economics, also warned that the island's house prices were too high for the current climate and, in the context of its ratio to salaries, comparable to that of central London.
She said different options could be explored in Guernsey, including different support for owner-occupancy and partial ownership schemes, on top of the current offerings.
'There is a case for looking at a range of policies to support intermediate tenants,' she said.
Professor Whitehead had earlier run through a range of different schemes that had been launched in the UK, including Right to Buy, Help to Buy, the Starter Homes initiative and mortgage guarantees.
During question time, she said the Help to Buy scheme – featuring equity loans – worked quite well in areas outside of London and the south-east and could provide real support.
'I am much more positive than I expected to be about it, in principle,' she said.
