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The States have started approaching "key landowners" and developers, in bid to boost the construction of new private homes in Guernsey.
The Committee for the Environment and Infrastructure said it hopes these meetings will help them understand the obstacles preventing the building of more houses.
The States say by exploring ways to make it easier and more profitable for developers to build, they could encourage more private sector involvement in housing construction to help address Guernsey's housing shortage.
This includes identifying and addressing any government regulations or policies that may be hindering development. The initiative follows discussions with various stakeholders in the construction industry to gather input and identify potential solutions.
Those stakeholders include local developers, architects, “key landowners” and the Guernsey Construction Forum.
Pictured: Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez, E&I' president, outside of Guernsey's court.
Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez is President of the Committee.
“Historically, government intervention in the housing market has been minimal, but with so few developments coming forward – even though ample land has been zoned for housing, and there’s a healthy number of planning permissions in place – we need to take practical steps to address this lack of progress in the private housing market," she said.
“Although some barriers will be common to all developments, each site will also have its own individual challenges. The meetings with landowners and developers will help us understand specifically what those challenges are and what could be done to address them.
“What this isn’t about, however, is government handouts. Given the current state of States finances, we obviously can’t guarantee that direct financial support will be available, but financial support from government can of course come in many different forms, such as help securing loans. There are various other ways, too, that the States may be able to unlock sites – for example through joint ventures, and theprovision of infrastructure such as flood mitigation measures and improvements to the transport system. These conversations mean that government will know what measures would be most effective to stimulate some of these developments so that informed decisions can be made.
“This work is just one piece of a much larger plan to address the bigger picture of housing in Guernsey, which looks at a range of interrelated issues such as housing standards, the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants, energy efficiency and modern methods of construction, to name just a few. There is no quick fix. We can’t resolve Guernsey’s housing pressures at the flick of a switch, but this work adds to other practical steps which are already well underway.”
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