Housing update would help ease 'crisis' talk

Pent-up demand has reportedly led to some of the busiest conditions agents have seen in years. Some of them are even reporting locally-qualified islanders are buying open market property because of a shortage of good deals in the local market.

Positive for some. Not so good for those wanting to get on the ladder or concerned about the prospects for their children or grandchildren – even whether they may have to leave the island because prospects of home-ownership are so poor.

Alongside Covid, housing has been the news issue running throughout 2021 and almost certainly that will continue into 2022, with no change in an overheating property market expected soon, and efforts made by the States to offer a degree of hope and the development of some new homes possibly unlikely to make any real market impact until 2023.

So maybe it’s no surprise that one deputy wants to have a States debate on the matter. Deputy Steve Falla wants to see States action – largely being driven by the cross-committee Housing Action Group – highlighted and a debate to demonstrate how importantly the States is treating the issue.

He feels that while the cross-committee nature of HAG gives it some advantages, it removes the usual avenues for members, and indeed, the public, to ‘challenge, question and contribute’.

‘It feels slow. We need to show publicly that we see it as a matter of urgency,’ he said.

Whether the island particularly benefits from States members expressing their individual and then collective views on housing is a debate in itself, but there are some opportunities. A clearer indication on planning policy on housing sites – especially given almost inevitable opposition from neighbours – might be useful.

The Guernsey Party issued a document on housing and population policy last spring/summer which briefly engaged and quickly fizzled out. There may be some ideas there for the States.

But whether there’s a debate or not, an update from HAG would be welcome. It would be instructive to see what the group has achieved, what it intends to do in 2022, and a timeline for some initiatives – such as the Kenilworth Vinery development, housing on derelict hotel sites – to become reality, and actually help tackle the ‘crisis’.