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With the news this week that the GHA is looking to launch a public-private partnership with a construction firm, we've explored how its work is coming to fruition across a number of different sites, with hundreds of new key worker homes in planning and development.
It's only the tip of the iceberg compared to what we're told is needed though, with Deputy Peter Roffey saying that housing needs to be treated as a priority by the States.
He was at the press call earlier this week when the partnership between Guernsey Housing Association and Infinity Construction Limited was announced.
That could see six private dwellings and 15 key-worker units built in a field almost opposite the Oberlands entrance to the hospital.
Pictured: Paul Nobes; MD Infinity Construction, Vic Slade; CEO GHA, and Deputy Peter Roffey at the field in the Oberlands which could see six private homes and 15 key worker flats built on it in the island's first public-private partnership of its kind.
The field at the centre of the proposed development has previously been subject to a planning application by Infinity which is now going to be re-submitted with new designs for the larger development.
If plans are approved Infinity hopes to start work in March. The properties should all be ready for market 18 months after that, with the plan being to sell the 15 key worker units to the GHA while the six private dwellings will be put on the local market for sale.
This would be the first time the GHA has entered into such a deal with a private construction firm, and if it goes well both sides are already saying they'd be keen to explore future possibilities too.
Anyone wondering why the GHA might now be interested in working in partnership with a private firm can look at a number of different factors for the answer.
The current economic climate is an obvious reason, as is the ongoing housing crisis.
As above, Deputy Roffey says housing is a priority for the States.
Pictured: Deputy Peter Roffey says solving the housing crisis is a priority for the States.
As President of the Committee for Employment and Social Security he is tasked with overseeing housing and he says "it's the biggest issue at the moment, and key worker housing is an important element of that."
With this development offering 15 units of key worker accommodation, Deputy Roffey said his colleagues at Health and Social Care are "tearing their hair out for accommodation. They're losing staff that would come here but can't because they can't find anywhere to live, so the more sites we get really close to the PEH for this specialist type of housing, the better."
The Chief Executive of the GHA Vic Slade said adding the proposed Oberlands development to its existing projects fits in with that.
"For us, it means aligning with States priorities, which is what we need to do if there's public subsidy involved. We're trying to get the best use for this particular site in terms of the hospital and being very conscious of recruitment and retention challenges, particularly for Health."
She called the proposed public-private partnership "an amazing opportunity" and she's keen for the GHA to work in new ways.
"I think it's the definition of insanity to keep doing things the same way. You can't expect different results. We're in a very different economic environment now with inflation, build costs, interest rates, the cost of borrowing, all of those things present quite a challenging environment so you've got to think a little bit differently to try and get the best result that you can and make use of the land that we've got."
Pictured: Deputy Peter Roffey and the GHA CEO Vic Slade at the CI Tyres site which should have key worker housing built on it in the next couple of years.
She added: "The fact that Infinity were prepared to think about doing this public-private model with us is really exciting. I think what we're hoping is if we test this model on this site and if it works well and we get a great product, I'm sure we will at the end of it, if the price and quality are right then hopefully, that's the way we can work in future."
If the Oberlands development gets planning permission it will lead to the first public-private partnership that the GHA has been involved with.
Ms Slade said she is exciting about working with Infinity having been impressed by their past work and their plans for the future. She said the need to deliver housing for both private homes and key workers is the driving force behind the deal though.
"I think the key for the island's housing pressures is supply and it's not supply of any one particular type. It's not all about what can you bring forward on the affordable side and what can you bring forward on the private side. We've got to make use of the land that we've got as our land is in short supply.
"Clearly, there are constraints so if we can get a public - private partnership to work that hits supply across all tenures, then hopefully we'll start to unlock some of the bigger housing pressures."
High on the priority list for the GHA is ensuring they spend public money wisely, which Ms Slade said she is confident will be the case in the proposed partnership with Infinity.
"We know that public money is under huge pressure at the moment," she said, "so this has got to be around getting the best possible product for the best possible price without compromising on space or design.
"The openness and transparency is there from the beginning right through the start of the negotiations which is really positive. It's about saying to the private sector, 'we understand there needs to be a profit element because that's why you're in business', but equally I think with Infinity, they've got an understanding that they have a contribution to make to the island's wider housing needs and from our point of view, trying to make the best impact and best use of public money, if we can understand what the profit element is and it's open and transparent and clear up front and it's reasonable, then why wouldn't we work in partnership with the private sector?
"Nobody's saying you can't make a profit. What we're saying is the transparency is really important to build a relationship of trust for future projects."
Pictured: Paul Nobes is Managing Director of Infinity Contruction alongside his brother John.
As for Infinity, Managing Director Paul Nobes said his firm is just as excited about the proposed partnership as the GHA.
"The landscape has changed a little bit in Guernsey with what's happened over the last 18 months and if we can prove what we're doing here and make it a very cost effective way of building housing, I don't see why we couldn't do this going forward," he said.
If planning permission is granted then the Oberlands site could be ready for people to move in within two years.
In the meantime, hundreds of properties should be ready elsewhere for key workers in particular, with the intention of that easing pressure on the housing market in other sectors including rental and first time buyer price ranges.
Other sites recently confirmed for GHA development include the former CI Tyres site in La Charroterie and the old Braye Lodge Hotel on Ruette Braye - both within short walks of the hospital.
Ms Slade said each of these three projects will be delivered at different times, as the work is spread out but she's also conscious that people are expecting to see even more development happening.
"I think there's, there's obviously a lot of questions out there about 'what land is there? build it there? why aren't you building?' And we're very conscious of that and things take a lot of work to get them ready. It's people's homes so we've got to do it right.
"This is absolutely an asset for us that we have to borrow against and we have to manage well, but actually it's somebody's home so it's got to be right. And I think with sites, there are sites that have got constraints that need to be worked out because a lot of the easy sites have gone, and inevitably the sites now coming forward have things that we need to do so we're not not doing those things in the background, it's just that some sites will be quicker to hit the headlines in terms of pipeline than others.
"But we are working away in the background trying to do more within that very challenging environment and we're trying to be very conscious of the housing crisis and we need to try and address that, but equally, we're working in a very different environment now than we were three years ago."
For Deputy Roffey one of the benefits of the planned development at the Oberlands - as with the Charroterie and Ruette Braye projects - is how close it is to the hospital.
Pictured: The Braye Lodge Hotel site could be home to key worker housing in the next few years if plans are approved.
"The idea is that they'll do half a dozen private houses at the back of the site and the front of the site will be 15 apartments for people working at the PEH which is literally 350 yards across the road," he pointed out. He also acknowledged that this development will only go a very small way towards solving the housing crisis.
"It's a massive task and there is no silver bullet to it. We have to tackle it step by step. And some people will say 'why always key worker housing?' and we are keen to move on to more housing focused on the local market.
"But even key worker housing does help locals, not only because they need operations in the hospital, but also if the hospital staff weren't in this sort of a specialist accommodation, they'd be out there competing for units in the general market so every extra unit we build helps the whole market if you like."
Deputy Roffey is feeling very positive about the key worker sites being worked on at the moment and he says as they come to fruition they'll move on to others.
"We've got the Braye Lodge site, which hopefully there'll be some progress there and there's a couple of other sites. I know that they're impatient to crack on (at the Oberlands) as quickly as possible. Clearly, they need planning permission - there was planning permission on this site for a different type of development, but now it's going to be a variation to allow apartments for key workers so obviously that needs to be approved.
"The Domain De Moulin, which is the old CI Tyres site - that planning application has been in for a while and now we're waiting for the DPA to come through with that.
"As I understand it, the architects working for the GHA are making good progress on the Braye Lodge site and that's slightly behind because that needs to be finalised and then put in for planning permission, but across the three sites we're talking about more than 100 units of key worker accommodation, which is significant.
"People do expect instant results and when I inherited this post there was virtually no sites. The sites had run out on which to develop so to go out to buy, inquire, compete sometimes against other developers, then to get the grants out of P&R, then to get the planning permission, it's not a quick process, but I think now we really are on the starting blocks and starting to move forward again."
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