Forum wants States to restore majority of open market rights
DEPUTIES need to ‘wake up’ to the benefits of the open market as an economic enabler and a catalyst for diversification, the founders of The Open Market Forum have said.
The three people who set up the forum in October – Zef Eisenberg, Guy Anderson and Helen O’Meara – have surveyed members about a wide range of matters, including their chief concerns regarding the sector.
More than 90% of the 300 plus respondents said they had received no correspondence from Housing before new population laws were introduced last year, with 94% saying the States were partly to blame for the prolonged downturn in the open market.
‘Never before has there been a proper and statistically relevant survey of the open market residents, their concerns, needs and worries,’ said Mr Eisenberg.
‘The response shows how passionately they feel about this sector and the issues they are facing.’
The forum’s membership has grown to over 700, which they believe represents around half of the sector.
Mr Eisenberg said the way new population laws were brought in last year had left open market residents feeling ignored.
‘They woke up the morning after the States debate totally unaware of the erosion of their rights they were now facing,’ he said.
‘There was no consultation, no surveys and no proper forum to hear their feelings.’
The forum is calling for the States to restore the majority of open market property rights, such as allowing Part A owners to have more than one lodger and reducing the complexity of permits.
Mrs O’Meara said that as a local woman who co-owns an open market home, she had seen the ‘lack of consultation’ first-hand.
‘I attended some of the public meetings but I never felt able to raise concerns about the open market. 95% of the people were there with local market concerns and so the open market got sidelined,’ she said.
‘Something that everyone agrees on is that we need more diversification, and open market residents have been a catalyst for diversification through Specsavers, Healthspan and Aquastar and others.
‘Open market residents enhance the community and we would like to see deputies give more thought, proactivity and put more money behind it.’
Mr Eisenberg said they could not wait until the next States term to see some action.
‘There are some deputies in the chamber who appear to be actively against the open market, who don’t value it and who privately feel that if it didn’t exist tomorrow it wouldn’t bother them,’ he said.
‘The opportunity costs of ignoring or dismissing the open market is high and Guernsey cannot afford to pass up opportunities at the moment.
‘We don’t want our nearest competitors to profit from Guernsey’s failure.’
The survey found that residents in the sector contribute over £70m. in net tax to the public purse, not including other areas of employment and investment, which have been estimated at over £400m.
The forum is working with Locate Guernsey, which the founders said was doing good work but required greater funding.
The present level of funding ‘is a token gesture rather than a major focus’ and the promotional agency should be able to expand its remit to include promotion of the open market.
