GHA – we can sort out States houses if they are sold to us

TENANTS of States houses have been promised that modernisation of their homes will speed up if the 1,600 properties are sold off to the Guernsey Housing Association.

Steve Williams Chief Executive at Guernsey Housing Association. (Picture by Sophie Rabey, 30398620)

GHA chief executive Steve Williams stressed that the project remained a very big ‘if’, and investigations were at the very early stages.

Two committees – Employment & Social Security and Policy & Resources – have both agreed that a possible stock transfer was worthy of proper analysis and officers have been instructed to draw up a report.

A valuation of the properties is currently being carried out, along with assessments of how much work is needed to bring them up to better standards.

Talks here are also discussions happening with civil servants, and these talks are described as ‘very sensitive’.

The report is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year, and that will potentially become a policy letter for the States Assembly to agree.

Mr Williams said if the initiative was pursued, there will be big public consultation and rent guarantees for tenants.

‘I’m familiar with rent guarantees from the UK because these have been going on since 1980 with local authorities selling housing stock to housing associations and you have to guarantee certain things on rents and repairs as well.

‘What the tenants gain is an acceleration of the modernisation of their homes, whereas States Housing may well have been a bit strapped for cash, because all the rent goes to the middle and then they beg for some of it back to repair the properties.

‘They’ve been on a shoestring for a long time, I would imagine, in terms of looking after their stock.

‘The cons side for the States is that they lose the rent if they sell it to us, but then they won’t have the cost of running the Housing department and they don’t have all the maintenance liabilities, so inevitably there are pros and cons like most things.

‘I’m sure it will be a very, very public discussion and there will be letters going to tenants to inform them about what’s going on.’

The properties are made of varying materials and to varying standards, with some dating back to the early 1900s.

Mr Williams said there were several ways the properties could be improved in the future.

Some of the properties are single skin, meaning the GHA would be keen to look at options for insulation to make them more energy efficient. Many also have oil or gas central heating.

Guernsey has a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and Mr Williams said that would mean that heating systems needed to be looked at.

‘This is a great opportunity to invest in the properties,’ he said.

He noted that improvements would have a cost and how this would be covered was one of the issues being discussed.