Paul Nobes told us about that project and others in this Unplugged interview in CONNECT, Express' sister publication: 

How would you describe Infinity's journey to date and your business ethos?  

Two brothers with a strong passion for property development combining their different trades skills to form a family business, that family grew with the inclusion of the Stuart Brothers and together we have been most fortunate to have built a team around us that share our ethos of dedication, a great work ethic, and a desire for continued improvement. 

What sets Infinity aside from other construction firms in the island?  

I am not convinced we are unique or different, we just aspired to create a brand and a successful formula to build properties we are proud of.  

Thanks to the new senior management team at the GHA the planning application actually went in in early December, as expected when working with a new partner especially one that is financially backed by the States of Guernsey everybody needs to feel comfortable with a new way of working, which makes decision making often slow and drawn out.  

That being said, we are expecting the legal agreements to be signed in March and we hope to put spades in the ground shortly after that.

Why does Infinity want to work with the GHA?   

Two main reasons: firstly world economics, the increased cost of living and high interest rate make business diversity more attractive and our critics have previously voiced that we as developers have not entered the market of affordable housing and we really wanted to address that, and our current proposition allows us to achieve that whilst building GHA homes at a competitive price which is enabled by our low business overhead and development model.

Pictured: This field in the Oberlands could be developed into housing through the public/private partnership between Infinity and the GHA.

If the Oberland’s development progresses, are we likely to see further developments in partnership with the GHA?  

Only time will tell, we are excited to be delivering this scheme but we have certainly entered this partnership with the hope of further opportunities to work together and we will certainly endeavour to meet the standard of finish required by the GHA at a price that will lead to further collaborations.

Developing key worker housing seems to be a step away from Infinity's past developments - will they look different to existing Infinity sites, or be built to different standards?  

The agreement we have with the GHA is we design and develop them as if they were our own, but we will have to compromise on certain aspects of the internal finishes and materials to ensure they remain consistent with other GHA developments, but we still aspire to build homes we are proud of and these properties will not be any different.

With Infinity and the GHA working together on an initial site, will there be more opportunities like this in the future?  

With the recent call for sites and the new Island Development Plan coming soon we believe there could be more opportunities to work together, and we are excited by the prospect of exploring these opportunities.

The phrase 'housing crisis' was used a lot during 2023 - do you think Guernsey is inthe midst of a housing crisis?  

I think there is a fundamental issue with the availability of new first time buyer properties.   

We as a community are not hitting our own housing targets in any of the last 10 years, this has created a huge shortage and a surge in demand which has pushed prices higher. This is exacerbated by over 3,000 job vacancies across the industries in Guernsey and trying to bring staff to the island with no rental properties available is almost impossible.  

We would suggest a number of measures to help with the current crisis (which we have suggested many times over the past few years): 

It can sometimes seem as though prospective building sites sit empty without any progress being made for many years, why does that happen in Guernsey when there is so much demand for housing developments?  

This could be for a number of reasons.  

Once planning permission has been granted and the full designs completed the scheme is reevaluated and is simply not viable. The interest rate increase has seen borrowing costs increase dramatically and tighter restrictions could mean funding is not available. The schemes were not fit for purpose anyway?  

GP11 would have had the greatest impact - it is not fit for purpose and as soon as it is changed, I have no doubt some of these stalled developments you are talking about will be started.

In your experience, what barriers do construction firms face in trying to progress developments in Guernsey?  

Apart from the above I do not foresee many barriers, as we have a good planning department that we have always found very helpful and responsive, naturally reducing the planning process time would undoubtable be a positive, but the correct solutions just need to be implemented to improve the situation.

Pictured: Infinity's development at Grange Mews.

What developments are Infinity working on now which we could see come to fruition in 2024?  

We tend to sell the vast majority of our properties off plan as this reduces the cost of the duty for our purchasers as they only pay duty on the plot price rather than the final price, which often saves them anything between £10,000 - £40,000.  

The other benefit is the clients then have an input into finishes to make the property feel more personalised.  

We will be completing Grange Mews which comprises of 15 houses [6 remaining], Sycamore Avenue - 13 houses [ 4 remaining], and Bas Courtil- 10 properties [ 2 remaining]. 

We will be starting four further development which totals another 43 properties which we aim to complete late 2025- spring 2026.

Beyond this year, what is on the agenda for Infinity?  

We as a company enjoy the diversity of the projects we undertake, from developing our properties for sale, private client builds, to the restaurants and leisure facilities like Nineteen & Guernsey Golf, Octopus & The Cornerstone. Currently we are building a couple of amazing client bespoke homes.  

As for the future we will continue developments as we have a number of sites in excellent locations and we continue to review other opportunities as and when they present themselves, so watch this space!

This interview was first published in CONNECT, Express' sister publication.

The latest edition of CONNECT can be read HERE.