Housing minister responds to the 'housing trap triggered' editorial

The general thrust of the article is that the shortage of new homes is creating a culture of dependency on the States and a disincentive to people to improve their circumstances – 'the best way out of the accommodation trap is to ask the States for help'. You only just stopped short of accusing islanders of becoming a community of benefit scroungers.

In the article you describe me as 'a doughty champion of the underdog'. While that is undoubtedly true, I'm committed to improving the lot of all islanders and that includes those working on middle incomes who increasingly beat a path to our door concerned about how they will make ends meet. Housing costs are a big part of their concern, but some of the statements in your editorial are an affront to the efforts of those who are trying to better themselves and to provide for their families (assuming of course they can ever afford to have children).

There are also some misleading statistics quoted, so let's examine some of those 'facts' and statements in more detail:

Facts:

* The States' strategic housing target is to provide for a net growth of 300 homes per year, and to that end the Environment Department ensures that at any one time there is a 'pipeline supply' of at least 600 planning permissions. This is not the same as the States undertaking to build 300 new homes per annum. The most recent Housing Needs Survey showed that what is required are new homes for 451 households per annum. Each of these targets is currently under review and a report to the States will follow later this year.

* In 2013, there were 177 new builds; 46 subdivisions; one amalgamation; and 17 conversions; creating 241 new homes in 2013. However, on the debit side, there were also 65 properties demolished, four amalgamations and one conversion: a loss of 70 homes. So the net growth was 171.

* Of the 177 new builds, 120 were provided by the Housing Department in partnership with the Guernsey Housing Association (GHA). Including subdivisions, etc., the private sector was responsible for creating 121 new homes.

* It is quite wrong to point the finger at government alone as it cannot be responsible for providing every new home required. It does not own every land parcel and beyond granting planning permission, it (currently) has no tools to force landowners and developers to build what they've been given permission for.

* The Environment Department has confirmed that there are over 700 permissions outstanding. The newspaper would do well to ask landowners and developers why that is the case, for without private sector initiative the situation will undoubtedly get worse for those seeking to rent or buy.

2) 'Increasing the amount of social housing is no bad thing. But... it has a downside. The quality and cost are unmatched in the private sector – because they are backed with taxpayer cash – and therefore very desirable.'

Responses:

* If the quality of our accommodation is really unmatched in the private sector then shame on the private sector. We are not going to provide shoddy accommodation for people who simply don't earn enough to rent privately or purchase outright.

* Where is your evidence that social housing properties cost more than private sector developments? The suggestion that the department spends money like water might fit your editorial stance about the States, but I challenge you to provide the facts to support this statement, which casts aspersions not only on the Housing Department but also on the GHA.

* You give readers the impression that GHA developments are fully funded by the States, when nothing could be further from the truth. Excluding the costs of any land transferred, the States typically contributes 10% of the total development costs, with the GHA borrowing the remainder from local banks.

3) 'Guernsey which prided itself on a self-help, work-to-live attitude is rapidly creating conditions in which it does not pay to make an effort.

Owner-occupation has slumped and the best way to get quality accommodation at an affordable price is to make sure that you remain eligible for States help.'

Responses:

* There is not a shred of evidence that Islanders are consciously not striving to better themselves so they qualify for social rental or partial ownership housing provided by either the Housing Department or the GHA. Waiting lists for both go up and down depending on how quickly we can provide new properties; they will certainly increase if we don't get more land allocated for affordable housing development and while the private sector fails to deliver sufficient (or the right size of) properties to curtail increases in prices and rents.

* Both the Housing Department and the GHA have income thresholds that limit the number of households that we can each accommodate in social rented housing. We do not recognise a behaviour whereby applicants restrict their earning capacity to be within those thresholds.

* Where property prices continue to increase through lack of private sector supply, partial ownership will increasingly be the means by which people come to own property. That is not because of a lack of effort on behalf of islanders, but a consequence of house price inflation consistently outstripping wage inflation (because of supply deficits), the high cost of living, and the huge deposits that people are now required to find before they can even contemplate a mortgage. This is an area where government can make a difference; and provided land is made available to develop for that purpose, that is exactly what we will do.

In conclusion, we welcome debate on the island's housing issues, but in contributing to this debate it is incumbent on the Guernsey Press to be able to back up its assertions – after all that's exactly what you regularly ask the States to do. I, therefore, ask that you publish this letter to ensure your readers are better informed with the relevant facts.

DEPUTY DAVE JONES,

Minister of the Housing Department.