Partial ownership wait can be years
PARTIAL ownership waiting lists are dropping as new Guernsey Housing Association properties are completed, but islanders wanting a home with two or three bedrooms can still expect to wait about three years.
This has led to investigations taking place into whether some rental properties could become partial ownership.
There are currently about 192 partial ownership properties. Since the scheme started in 2007, just 23 have been sold back to the Guernsey Housing Association so the owners can move into the private sector. That included six last year and one this year.
The GHA has been working to tackle its waiting list.
Building is just being completed on the former Warry’s Bakery site in Grand Bouet, which will add 20 more partial ownership properties to the GHA’s portfolio.
Work is also well under way in Guelles Road, where eight more partial ownership properties are being created.
Chief executive Steve Williams said the waiting list had been going down, but there were still 28 people waiting for a one-bedroom flat, 25 for a two-bedroom home and 28 for a three-bedroom property.
‘That is about 18 months wait for a one bed and three years for two and three beds,’ Mr Williams said.
‘As not vast numbers are being built, it still takes time to get the properties.’
The longer waiting list for larger properties is down to several factors.
With one-bed properties there has been a turnover, as people move up the housing ladder into larger properties. But people stay settled in two- and three-bed properties for longer.
The GHA has also previously focused on building smaller properties, to help islanders from larger family homes downsize.
Unlike selling in the private market, the GHA is a guaranteed purchaser so partial owners can move on relatively easily once they can afford to go into the private sector.
Mr Williams said they were looking at how to tackle the waiting list for people wanting larger properties.
This includes talking to the States about possibly converting some larger rental properties into partial ownership. The GHA is also looking at what sort of properties they are building.
‘There is a need for more three beds and we have modified the design of one of our properties [Bickleigh in the Saltpans] to add in more three beds,’ he said.
Employment & Social Security is in the process of replacing the rent rebate and supplementary benefits schemes with income support.
This is likely to encourage people to downsize if they are in a larger property, so it could free up more three bed States-owned properties.
