Our MD Pierre Blampied was invited onto BBC Radio Guernsey’s breakfast show to give his professional opinion on the current housing climate. Together with Steve Williams from The Guernsey Housing Association (GHA), they discussed what can be done to solve Guernsey’s housing problems.

Steve commented that the waiting list for GHA properties continues to grow, with more than 500 people on the waiting list for affordable housing, and the consensus was that islanders are currently struggling to find properties to rent or buy. Pierre noted that prices were high, particularly in the rental market, and this is having an additional impact on people looking to move to Guernsey. He has also seen a large increase in the number of businesses having concerns on trying to recruit specialist staff, but failing to attract people to the island due to a lack of suitable housing.

Pierre also commented on the rejection of the Pointues Rocque development saying “It’s disappointing to see the application for the Pointues Rocques development framework rejected, given the number of people on island that are currently looking to buy houses”. However, he added that he was anticipating that it would be approved following appeal, but that the planning process on-island isn’t conducive to developing properties quickly. However, he believes this is improving.

With much of the argument against the Pointues Rocques framework focused on traffic congestion, Steve noted  there is no doubt that future applications need to be robust in terms of what will be done to minimise traffic. In addition, it is evident that new infrastructure is needed on-island to reduce car dependency and to move to alternative travel. However, given the length of time this will likely take, and the urgent need for new properties, the answer is to start developing now.

Click here and head to 1:35:40 to listen to the discussion in full.

Give us a call on 01481 715234 or email [email protected] for any mortgage advice or queries.