Caritas looks to States land to install modular homes

The charity hopes to build a community of up to 24 single-bedroom units, which would provide accommodation for those in need for up to two years.

Since September they have been looking for a site of about 1,000sqm – about the size of four tennis courts – on which to place pre-built modular units, with 12 being added in a first wave.

Having initially looked to the private sector for a land donation, they have now turned their attention to the States portfolio.

Charity chairman Graham Merfield said the plans were theoretically simple, used before and proven to work.

‘We’ve had some offers of land. One of them is potentially viable, but planning would be complex,’ he said.

‘We have somebody on our board who knows the States portfolio inside out, and we’ve narrowed it to five sites currently not being used, and some of them are what’s called infill sites, that for States housing would not be easy to develop. So, theoretically, it’d be easy for them to give us these pieces of land.

‘People are very quick to criticise the States, but they and Planning have been very supportive and we’ve got a fairly important meeting with them coming up this week.’

The charity came to the conclusion that modular housing was the way forward after developing their plans over the last three years.

It is also looking for land to install two emergency sleeping pods in the island to combat Guernsey’s homeless crisis.

‘The logical thing appeared to be to buy an old hotel, or warehouses that had shops built into them,’ he said. ‘That looked quite attractive until we start running the numbers.

‘There was one particular building we looked at, a former care home, which we thought was ideal, because it looked like it was set up for immediate use. But you get somebody in who knows about buildings, and they say it’s cheaper to tear the whole thing down. It would have cost £5m. and taken five years.’

Prefab homes ‘easier to just drop in place’

The difficulty and cost of getting suitable contractors on board on-island has resulted in the local charity going down the prefab route to create homes quickly.

‘When we did the assessment, it wasn’t only the cost, it was also the time, because nothing gets built in 12 months here,’ said Caritas chairman Graham Merfield.

‘So much easier if you could just bring it in and drop it in place.’

Inspiration came when they visited sites run by homelessness charity Emmaus in the UK.

‘We visited one in Norfolk that was in an old nunnery. We visited one in Winchester, which is purpose built,’ he said. ‘But at the Emmaus community in Cambridge, we saw these modular units on the site, and some of the people living there were kind enough to show us around. So we sort of had a bit of a rethink.’

Mr Merfield said that once granted planning permission, the first residents could be housed within 12 months.

‘The units are available from the factory in the UK at relatively short notice. So, we just need to put a concrete pad down and add on the utilities,’ he said. ‘If the land can be secured for free we estimate the cost for the first phase at one and a half million. Our target initially is to raise a million because we’ve got some funds already.’

He added that as well as a roof the charity wanted to provide support to help people get back on their feet with a community leader on site.

‘Because if you look at why people are homeless, it’s easy to think, at the moment particularly, that it’s just because there’s a lack of housing on the island, or it’s expensive. That’s a factor, but typically there’s something else. It could be a relationship breakdown, addiction problems or losing a job, coming out of prison or a combination. That’s why it’s important that as well as the roof over the head, people get some support to help them re-integrate.’

Mr Merfield volunteered to help with the charity when they were running a market.

‘I had an interest in the homeless issue because I worked in the US and it’s a terrible problem there, which is very visible, which it’s not here. At first I wondered is there really a need here? But the more you get involved, the more you realise the hidden issue.’