Build it - but will they come?
ANYONE looking to buy a house will have a list of desirable criteria. As well as the size and style of their perfect property, they will have a preference about such aspects as outside space, parking, location and nearby amenities.
But with Guernsey’s sky-high property prices and a shortage of housing stock, the chances are that hopeful househunters might have to tear up that wish list.
The States is trying to address the issue by building, and encouraging private developers to build, more and more houses. New developments seem to be proposed almost every day. The new application for 19 properties behind homes on Route Militaire is a case in point.
The new policy from the Development & Planning Authority to move away from ribbon development to focus instead on local centres makes sense on paper. After all, concentrating new housing around existing high density areas, such as Town and the Bridge, preserves precious green space elsewhere and means easy access to existing amenities such as shops, restaurants, schools and churches.
But it also means squeezing as many houses as possible into small areas, often resulting in crammed homes with tiny gardens (if any), limited parking, and surrounded by congested roads – characteristics which are unlikely to feature on many wish lists.
No doubt, more such local centres will soon be identified following the call for people to suggest new housing sites, the deadline for which is next Friday.
The question is, will anyone really want to live there? And with the current housing situation as it is, will they have any choice?