‘Early positive signs’ in easing housing pressures
Plans to look at modern construction methods and address the lack of supply of housing in the island are all being considered by Environment & Infrastructure, it said in its first update to the Guernsey Housing Plan.
Included within the annual report are updates on the Affordable Housing Development Programme, housing standards legislation and the open market inscriptions policy.
The update also provides more detail on stimulating private market housing developments, investigating modern methods of construction, a long-term key worker housing policy and efforts to regulate the private rental market.
‘When we initially launched the plan, we explained that there was no silver bullet to Guernsey’s housing pressures, but through this comprehensive plan, covering cross-committee work, we are seeing some early positive signs,’ said E&I president Lindsay de Sausmarez.
‘However, there’s still a long way to go and we’re not resting on our laurels.’
Included in the report are updates on a total of 28 workstreams, some of which are completed, while others are ongoing and some are due to start next year.
Deputy de Sausmarez said a lot of work had been done already and even more was being planned for next year.
‘A number of workstreams are due to report in the next few months,’ she said.
‘Our efforts are very much focused on trying to alleviate Guernsey’s various housing pressures, and it’s good to see some early positive signs.’
The Guernsey Housing Plan was published in July last year in an effort to address the island’s housing pressures.
It set its goal out as: ‘All people living in Guernsey will have access to a range of good quality housing that is affordable, secure, energy efficient and adequate for their needs.’
Property prices have fallen (by 11.61% in real terms) since the plan was published, along with the purchase price to earnings ratio (down to 14.5 in the second quarter of this year).
Average rents have also fallen by about 4% in quarter two this year.
While the general trend is towards making housing more affordable the averages were still higher than what would be considered ‘sustainably affordable’ and so this will continue to be a focus of the work taking place under the housing plan, the committee said.
