The five sites that would be emptied if services move to Raymond Falla House – Lukis House, Swissville, Garden Hill, Perruque House and Le Carrefour – have a combined estimated value of about £8.4m., and could be sold or redeveloped once vacated.
The Committee for Housing has thrown its weight behind the plan, saying the sites ‘represent valuable developable land’ that would ‘better serve the island in years to come by providing much needed housing’.
It has urged that some buildings used mainly as offices, such as Perruque House, be vacated early.
‘Office use should not be a blocker for delivery of strategic States priorities such as housing,’ it said.
HSC said the housing potential was ‘material and should not be regarded as an ancillary benefit’.
Health & Social Care also points to longer-term savings. It estimates the move would cut 30-year lifecycle costs across the affected estate from around £25m. to less than £10m., and reduce property-related operating costs between 2030 and 2040 from £12m. to under £3m.
However, the request comes at a sensitive time for the States’ finances.
The proposal – forecast to cost around £17.1m. – sits within a Major Projects Portfolio with a total funding envelope of £477m., which as of June was already forecasting a £1.9m. overspend.
It is also linked to Health’s decision to scrap the Phase 2A hospital rebuild as unaffordable as costs escalated to £273m. and as it moved to wind down its electronic patient records programme.
The choice of scheme was, the committee admits, ‘finely balanced’. It selected refurbishing and extending Raymond Falla House, estimated at £16m. to £22m., over a full demolition and rebuild that would have cost between £18m. and £28m. and delivered slightly greater benefits.
While the proposal has the committee’s unanimous support, two members – vice-president Aidan Matthews and Munazza Malik – had expressed a preference for the rebuild option.
A further option, which would have added six key-worker homes on the site, was rejected.
The committee cited safeguarding and management concerns about combining housing with services for vulnerable children and families on the same site, and said the small number of homes did not justify the extra cost.
The proposal will be debated by the States before the end of the year.