Static homes could defuse demographic time bomb

One of the big problems as I see it is that the retiring workers who own their homes are unable to sell and downsize to a smaller property and realise a realistic return to enable them to retire in comfort. Let me explain.

Mr Bloggs sells his three- or four-bedroom house for a sum of, let’s say, £650,000-£700,000, then for him to go and purchase a smaller two-bedroom bungalow on Guernsey he still is needing to spend somewhere in the region of £500,000, leaving only £150,000-£200,000 to enjoy for the rest of his retirement, which at today’s levels is not really going to last that long.

Therefore, I ask why in Guernsey do we not have, as there is in virtually every county in the UK, residential static home parks?

These parks are available only to people over 55 years of age and if anyone looks online they will see that these days these homes are somewhat luxurious in the way they are fitted out and the parks themselves are maintained to a high standard.

As I see it, they would only be made available to 55s and over and only to people who are selling or have sold a property to fund their retirement, thereby protecting the local rental market.

The States would provide the land, which would be divided into plots just big enough to site the home, with something like a three-metre boundary surrounding the home itself.

The leaseholder would buy the non-transferable lease of said plot from the States for somewhere in the region of £30,000 with a 50-year lease which, from the age of 55, should be enough to see out most people’s lives, plus a yearly ground rent to cover maintenance of grounds, to which the leaseholder would then be responsible for purchasing the static home and siting on said plot.

On the death of the leaseholder, the plot would then revert to States ownership for resale, thereby creating a continual income for our government.

I can hear you all shouting now, ‘yes great, but where?’

Well, I think the States have the perfect site in the form of Belgrave Vinery. It could be started on a small scale and expanded as the need arises. Also this area is hardly an area of outstanding natural beauty and anything done can only be an improvement.

The other benefits to the island as a whole are that people coming up to retirement no longer look to the UK or France to be able to afford a comfortable retirement, thereby keeping their spending power within our shores, and let’s face it even retirees spend money on eating out, buying fuel, groceries and many other pastimes which all boost our economy and not somebody else’s. Maybe someone in authority can spot the potential in this and make it happen.

P.A. DE CARTERET.