Affordable housing scrapped at Pointues Rocques development
AFFORDABLE housing is being scrapped at the Pointues Rocques housing development, as it has been preventing developers taking it on, one of the designers behind the project has said.
The controversial St Sampson’s site, close to Delancey Park, has plans for 30 dwellings, 10 flats, 12 maisonettes and 16 affordable houses and was put on the market in 2023 for around £7m.
But after the GP11 policy – which aimed to ensure a certain percentage of larger sites be used for affordable housing – was suspended last year, an affordable aspect was no longer required.
PF&A has been working on the plans, and director Alex Whitmore said the affordable housing aspect had prevented a developer taking on the site.
‘GP11 caused a fair amount of challenges for these types of sites, which meant they were not being developed, and that’s what has happened here,’ he said.
‘It has been on the market for the last couple of years, but there have not been any sensible offers.’
He said the idea of mixed public/private site had made developers nervous, as it would involve unusual arrangements, such as planning covenants.
‘I think it will be more attractive to purchasers without affordable housing, it will take away a lot of question marks,’ he said.
‘I’m not saying it could not have worked with affordable housing, and we understand why GP11 was there, but this will take away some of challenges.’
Development work is currently taking place to create a mixture of private homes and affordable housing units off Les Oberlands in St Martin’s, which has been seen as a possible prototype for future collaborations. But this is only the first of this type of project.
Mr Whitmore said the Pointues Rocques site was currently off the market and he did not know how its value would be affected, if this application was approved.
‘We are taking it one step at a time,’ he said.
‘The owners will speak to the estate agents and take their advice. The market will dictate the price and they are keen to sell.’
The site has been cleared of all its glasshouses, and Mr Whitmore said it was clear now how the site could be developed.
‘We all know Guernsey needs more housing,’ he said.
‘I think this will unlock the site.’
The site has been on a long journey, with housing first suggested in 2006. Since then there have been various development designs, but there was also some discontent, with a march against development held in 2017.
If the affordable housing had gone ahead, it would have been developed by the Guernsey Housing Association. And the GHA had at one stage investigated buying the 15-vergee former greenhouse site.
Guernsey Housing Association CEO Vic Slade said: ‘The Pointues Rocques site is privately owned land and while we’ve been negotiating on the sale price for some time, we understand that the owners are free to get the best commercial deal they can.’
