May 2022
A check on the property that was available for sale in Jersey at the beginning of May, shows that just under 500 houses and apartments were listed between 53 estate agents. These numbers do not include houses and apartments that are currently under construction in a number of locations, most of which are likely to have been presold off plan.
Sales in the first four months of the year have been buoyant, particularly in the First Time Buyer sector which has been very active, despite claims that there is insufficient suitable property to satisfy demand.
EMPTY PROPERTIES IN JERSEY
It has been suggested that this shortage could be alleviated by making use of the 4,000 properties that were revealed as being vacant, on the day of the recent census. The counter argument is that many of these properties were empty for perfectly valid reasons, to include the owners being away on holiday, units that were between sales or tenancies, property that were being refurbished or modernised, holiday lets and accommodation used for seasonal agricultural or hospitality staff. The then greatly reduced balance of long- term vacant property may actually be the subject of probate, or be owned by someone who has recently moved into care. In which case, it could be wrong for Government to step in and use it to house families from their waiting list.
MODULAR BUILDINGS TO HELP WITH SHORTAGE?
Jersey Business recently hosted a very well attended meeting at the Town Hall between a group of Polish modular home manufacturers and representatives of the Jersey building industry, along with planners, and other stakeholders.
In a nutshell, modular buildings could be one solution to help solve the island’s housing shortage, as the time it takes to construct these buildings on site is significantly shorter than using conventional building methods.
Despite vigorous debate, the end result of the meeting was overall very positive. There remain many obstacles to overcome, such as the lack of suitable sites currently available, the logistics of shipping flat pack houses 2,000 kilometres by road from Poland to St Malo, and then over sea to Jersey, and even more importantly, the ability of Jersey mortgage lenders to be able to accept these new construction methods for mortgage purposes.
It is apparent that there is a mood of change, attributable in part, to the need to provide sustainable housing for the future and in part, to be being an election year. With hopes that promises will be carried through to become positive actions
