In a decision on Thursday, January 23rd, the States of Guernsey agreed to establish a new Housing Committee tasked with delivering on housing for the island. This move consolidates responsibilities currently dispersed across four committees into a single political entity, providing much-needed focus on tackling Guernsey’s housing challenges.

The States debated the merits of either a committee or an arms length commission, ultimately deciding to move forward with the committee model.

The new Housing Committee, set to be established in the next political term, will assume responsibilities for housing policy and social housing, which are currently overseen by Environment & Infrastructure and Employment & Social Security, respectively. Planning policy will remain under the Development & Planning Authority, while funding for housing initiatives will stay with Policy & Resources.

The restructuring aims to bring about a more cohesive and focused approach to solving the island’s housing crisis. With housing needs escalating, the establishment of a dedicated committee offers more focus and increased accountability.

This streamlined structure allows Chamber to have one central point politically to address housing issues, but does it address the lack of levers to bring about change?

Chambers’ Housing Forum

Here at Chamber from last autumn we have been facilitating a ‘Housing Forum’ which brings together industry, construction, government and others to speed up thinking and delivery by  providing a live feed to Government.

Last month we were discussing the options that are being reviewed to incentivise private development. An independent housing expert, ARC4, have been commissioned by Government to consider ways of triggering private market housing development in Guernsey, which has primarily involved looking at potential incentives that could be introduced and also penalties (should the incentives not work).

Future topics for the Housing forum include:

  • Private rental sector
  • Empty properties & better use of housing stock
  • Development agency
  • Institutional investment/ethical investment
  • Public: private financing & structuring.
  • Building formats/ technology
  • Guernsey Construction Forum to address what might cause them greatest pain/blockers as developers
  • Site financing

The group will be looking at options that address both current and future housing demands. If you would like to know more get in touch.