New housing rules will hurt weakened building industry
FURTHER to the Guernsey Housing Association article in the Guernsey Press ('Landowners not taxpayers will help fund new homes', 22 August) the Construction Industry Forum recently met and felt obliged to respond setting out the difficulties it sees with regard to GP11 and the Environment Department's single-minded determination to drive through a policy purely aimed at affordable or social housing.
The construction industry is a vibrant part of Guernsey's economic landscape. It is currently suffering a slow down with a lack of major projects in the market at present or in the pipeline. This policy (GP11) will be a major blow to the industry and to the 3,000 people employed in it.
We estimate that more than 50% of planning permissions for new dwellings will fall within the category of GP11 and of those many will require the new development planning briefs which Environment are also suggesting will be introduced. Dealing with Guernsey's planning authorities is already a difficult, long-winded and expensive process. The requirements of this policy will add a whole new dimension to that, increasing both time and cost involved and will almost certainly see schemes not coming forward for consideration let alone full planning permission and that will lead to a significant downturn in the production of new housing units.
In the UK and Jersey this type of policy has been introduced and then amended or abandoned and that has been done in times of growth and rising house prices. We are not in those times now.
This policy will apply to all new multi-unit developments so the cost burden will fall on landowners, developers and home buyers alike. This huge additional stealth tax is being imposed at a time when the local housing market is weak and showing no sign of recovery.
The practicalities of what is being proposed are almost unworkable in a small place such as Guernsey. The aim is to mix up house or apartment buyers with those members of our society that require the States to provide accommodation for them. It will not work on single sites and developers know this. Historically the Guernsey Housing Association have built dwellings on one site and this has worked well. It will not work where there is one GHA dwelling on the same site as four other dwellings whose owners will have to pay significantly more for the same property.
Guernsey has one of the lowest levels of waiting lists for properties in the UK. We have a weak housing market, we have a gradual slowing down in future building projects – we do not need further punitive measures which GP11 requires when there is no real demand for it.
ERIC LEGG,
Chairman,
Construction Industry Forum.
