Housing commission rejected by the States

Thursday 23 January 2025

States members have thrown out the concept of creating a commission to help tackle Guernsey’s housing problems.

The concept was laid out in an amendment laid by Deputy Lindsay de Sausmrez as an alternative to creating a new dedicated housing committee.

Pictured: States members voted by 20 votes to 17 against establishing an housing commission.

Deputies have now moved on to decide whether they will support a committee, as proposed in a requete led by Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller, or leave the structure of government unchanged.

In opening on her amendment, Deputy de Sausmarez said: "This amendment gives the Assembly a choice between two different approaches, the creation of a new committee for housing, as in the original proposals, which would add another layer of government into the mix, creating additional civil service roles, additional administration and bureaucracy and significant additional cost in the process, or the approach proposed in the amendment to establish a Housing Commission, which, by contrast, would streamline the role of government and improve efficiency and effectiveness without requiring any additional resource."

A commission could be created within weeks, she said.

A new committee adds expense and complication.

"It also risks diverting resource away from that front line delivery over the course of the transition between now and July 2025 in particular, just when the committee wants officers to be able to focus their efforts entirely on work streams that will make a material difference to housing in Guernsey, so that they can take effect as quickly as possible."

Planning would still remain the responsibility of the Development & Planning Authority if a new committee was set up.

"A housing commission could be constituted so that the representatives of all of the key States parties are around the same table alongside those external to the States, leading to much better coordination and speed of action on housing delivery, both within the States itself and more generally, across relevant parts of industry and the community," she said.

"This amendment proposes establishing a housing commission, at its core, a small, agile group of people with relevant experience, skills and expertise to achieve the State's objectives and deliver housing more expeditiously with a chair or lead who would become the island's housing delivery champion."

Pictured: Deputy Andy Cameron.

The idea was not new, and something that was suggested by Deputy Andy Cameron.

What most people wanted to see was a laser-like focus on house building, he said.

"With a growing shortfall in affordable housing and an aging population requiring tailored solutions, we need an approach that delivers tangible, expert driven results," he said.

Deputy Bob Murray said that the reality was the cost of developing and building is prohibitive in Guernsey, as was the earnings to cost of mortgages relationship.

"I don't believe for one minute those fundamentals will be changed by just the commission."

There were too many cooks in the kitchen, he said.

"We have competing demands, competing mandates, and none of us are prepared to let go. A single focus committee granted the relevant authority to remove these unnecessary barriers between mandates and blockages is absolutely the right way to go."

Deputy Nick Moakes said he had proposed a housing sector forum six months ago.

"The forum itself will be made up of representatives from the construction industry, covering private, social and key worker housing, everything the states, the relevant committees, that is and employers, that's business, public and private sector, additional representatives should be brought in to provide further advice and guidance. Does that sound familiar?"

Pictured: Deputy Nick Moakes.

Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen believed they were facing a cyclical issue.

"At the moment, what is drafted in the explanatory note, really just looks like an information share, a talking shop, potentially a conduit, and the housing forum already exists. So ergo, why would we therefore need to set up an arm's length commission, when really what Guernsey Construction Forum has said is that they would like just a consolidated political point, focal point to be able to deal with."

The commission being proposed was very different to those like the sports commission that already existed, she argued, questioning the lack of detail on what would be used to measure success, like key performance indicators.

Requete leader Deputy Kazantseva-Miller described the amendment as an act of desperation, designed to sink the idea of a new committee.

The Guernsey Construction Forum had unequivocal support for a committee, she said, which would be in place by 1 July.

She said it would be financial lunacy to assume a small group with £100,000 would be able to solve all the delivery problems.

The operating costs of the Sports Commission was £850,000, it was £1.3m for the Health Commission.

The other fallacy was to think that something would happen within a couple of weeks, she said.

Pictured: Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller.

"How long has it taken to set up the Nature Commission? I believe two years."

Under the Guernsey Housing Plan there was a workstream to create a delivery vehicle by 2024, where is it?

Out of 26 workstreams in that plan, practically nothing had been delivered publicly. It was a delivery failure, but who is responsible?

"We have lost the plot on delivering which is why there is very little public trust. There seems to be a lack of acceptance of the main committees involved that there was a problem."

The budget of the committee for this year would result in a saving against the 2025 budget, she claimed.

There would be minimal civil service change, she said, but it would happen regardless because of new political masters coming in.

A committee would have a much stronger link feeding into planning policy, she said.

"We're suggesting today the main body of the debate is about the committee, about taking that step to deliver politically better on housing".

The committee could then take on the work on a delivery vehicle.

Approving the amendment would derail any opportunity for the political change to put housing under one committee, said Deputy Kazantseva-Miller.

Debate continues...