States aims to secure affordable housing sites

Guernsey States says it wants to engage with landholders over the potential building of affordable homes ahead of planning rules debates in the autumn.

The Island Development Plan (IDP) is being reviewed by the Development and Planning Authority (DPA), with the building project guidebook's future to debated by the States.

The review will decide whether to zone seven new affordable housing sites that were proposed by the DPA.

President of the DPA Deputy Neil Inder said it was important to publish the proposed zones early to understand how quickly sites could be bought or taken on from landowners and developed.

The States Strategic Housing Indicator in 2024 assessed that 673 new units of affordable housing would need to be created by 2028 to meet growing requirements.

However, data from the States shows from 2023 to 2025, only one new affordable housing unit was constructed on the island and none were built last year.

The States assessed affordable housing as being "property that's reserved for certain groups of people who can't afford to rent or buy property on the private market".

The seven proposed sites were selected after islanders provided feedback through a series of representations, and a public hearing in January

Inder said an early release of potential sites could ensure homes were delivered "as soon as possible."

"We want to engage early with landowners to understand how quickly their sites can be developed," he said.

"There's no point in allocating a site for affordable housing and then nothing happening."

Simon Holland, managing director of Guernsey-based housing developer Hillstone, told the BBC he was concerned the zoned land would not come forward.

He said: "I don't think the States have considered the fact that much of the land they've suggested be zoned for housing won't come forward, because I don't believe the landowners will get the value that they perceive from the land.

"I think there's a huge imbalance between the value of constructible land and what the landowners believe the value of constructible land is."

Currently, only the Guernsey Housing Association (GHA) is registered to develop States-defined affordable housing on the island.

Mr Holland said this prevented market forces dictating the value of the land and while, in principle, a commercial developer could register as another social housing provider, this presented "considerable obstacles".

"To all intents and purposes it's a not-for-profit model, so why would a commercial developer move from a traditional operating for a profit... simply because of the zoning of land that the States have made hard to develop anyway," he said.

He added that, by only allocating seven ties, the scope for delivering affordable housing was even further reduced.

"So, all in all, I think the current review will offer almost nothing in terms of deliverable units."

Proposed amendments to the IDP said, though the sites were intended for affordable housing purposes, a "minority" of a site could for private market housing development.

It did clarify that any such development must be part of a "comprehensive scheme" for the site as a whole.

The GHA has been approached by the BBC for comment.