Homes crisis 'could be tackled by right-to-build plan'

A new plan aiming to help Guernsey residents priced out of the local housing market would allow them to purchase plots of land at cost.

Deputy Marc Laine developed the Guernsey Right to Build proposal, which is subject to approval.

Those who earn above the social housing limit but who cannot afford to enter the private market would be admissible for application to the scheme.

Laine said: "Hundreds of houses haven't been built because people can't acquire a low-cost plot. We don't need to build a house for them. They don't need handouts, they just need a hand up."

According to Laine, the scheme would "take care of the the ordinary Guernseyman that sits within the middle, at the top end of affordable but below private market housing".

No affordable housing was built in Guernsey in 2025, despite the States strategic housing indicator setting a target of 1,488 units by 2028.

"We're proposing a route to those ordinary Guernsey people owning their own home for hundreds of thousands less that it would normally cost them"

The Development and Planning Authority (DPA) has proposed seven potential affordable sites, with a review of the Island Development Plan to take place this year.

Laine proposes that 20% of affordable housing sites are allocated to a Right to Build plan, with a developer then supplying a serviced plot and foundation.

"They can give you a serviced pad for about £140,000. If it was just the land alone, you'd be saving hundreds of thousands, but you're saving even more because you're getting a serviced plot for much less."

The scheme would not allow for those who would purchase a plot with the goal of "flipping it and making a quick profit".

"If they sold it any time in the near future, they'd pay 100% capital gains [tax]."

"The size and the glide slope of the capital gains tax can be decided by others. In my proposal document, I've set it at 20 years."

Laine added that "I'm absolutely certain that we can do this because landowners, developers and banks are up for it."

If the States do approve the scheme, Laine said, "I would like to see a pre-register set up so as we can gauge interest. Could we build 20 homes a year like this or is it going to be 200?"

He said one of the developers he was in contact with told him "these are the homes that the people that work for me, that are building houses, could build for themselves."

"They're building houses that they can't afford to live in."

"If the demand is there, there is nothing to stop this other than political will."