Genie must be put back in the bottle

RATHER like a naughty child, the open market issue refuses to be put to bed.

Despite assurances from the island's two senior politicians that there are no plans to scrap the sector, estate agents, sales figures and open market residents indicate that a cloud still hangs over the market.

Two factors are at work.

One, as we reported in March, the old law has to be scrapped and a new one drawn up. That may well seek to create a replica of the open market but it will be under a new law.

For that reason, assurances from the chief minister and his deputy (who have limited power anyway) that the market would not be scrapped stopped short of promising no change whatsoever. They cannot give such an assurance because they cannot know the future and the States will have the ultimate say.

Secondly, the Population Policy Group floated a balloon and let it go. No proposals are made for change but, until the public's views are known 'it is not possible to determine what changes should be made'.

Its report goes on: 'The questions will help to determine the public's views and those views will be taken into account when the PPG considers whether there is any justification for change.

'The PPG will then be in a position to bring forward proposals for any changes and how they might be implemented.'

So, despite assurances, the door to change may not be wide open but it is certainly unlocked.

Understandably, such open-ended statements worry prospective investors. People who have made a success of their business lives are unwilling to take risks – no matter how small – with millions of their hard-earned.

Putting this genie back in the bottle is not proving easy. And it was made all the harder by the Housing minister stating that it could be four years before new population legislation reaches the statute books.

While that may well be true, the States needs to work hard to calm market nerves before 2015.

Clear proposals by the PPG as soon as possible are only a starting point.