Building has been delayed on several larger sites in recent years, including numerous areas of land in the north of the island purchased by the previous States for millions of pounds, which has hampered efforts to increase the supply of housing.
Housing president Steve Williams has not given up hope of getting larger developments out of the ground following meetings with various owners of such sites, but his committee has also decided on a new approach.
‘We know that having permissions in place isn’t a guarantee that new homes will be built, which is why we’ve continued to meet with individual key landowners to understand why sites are not progressing and what government might be able to do to unlock them,’ he said.
‘Productive meetings have taken place with those whose sites are already allocated or have planning permission for housing or where housing could come forward and which are expected to provide 10 or more homes.
‘Following the usefulness of this work, our committee has decided to revisit these sites for updates on their progress, but will also now be focusing on sites which can accommodate between five and 10 homes.’
Housing also confirmed that it was still investigating another idea to encourage more developments which was first put forward two-and-a-half years ago.
In the summer of 2023, the States committee then responsible for housing policy, Environment & Infrastructure, announced it was considering setting up an alternative body to the Guernsey Housing Association to accelerate new social housing projects.
At the time, it said the work would be ‘a key focus for the States over the coming months’, but nothing concrete has emerged since, and Deputy Williams was guarded about any progress made in his committee’s first six months in office.
‘While the GHA is one avenue for delivering housing, we are also investigating the feasibility of establishing a States-owned delivery vehicle along with other potential mechanisms for delivering housing developments, as outlined in the Guernsey Housing Plan,’ he said.
He was encouraged by the latest quarterly report monitoring the effect of the Island Development Plan, which showed an increase in the number of homes under construction, and a jump in the number of planning permissions in place for potential new homes.
He welcomed a recent decision by the Development & Planning Authority to provide outline planning permission to build private and social housing at the Mallard site in the Forest.
He said his committee was also fully supportive of GHA projects at La Vielle Plage, Oberlands and the former CI Tyres site, and that ‘the difference that this additional affordable housing will make shouldn’t be underestimated’.
The Policy & Resources Committee recently proposed that plans to develop hundreds of homes at Leale’s Yard should be awarded ‘super priority’ status in the 2025-29 Government Work Plan, which will be debated by the States later this month.