- St Peter Constable John Refault is searching for site to build first-time buyer homes
- 50 parishioners have expressed interest in getting on to property ladder
- Should parishes build more homes aimed at first-time buyers? Take our poll below
A SITE for a new first-time-buyer development in St Peter is being sought after about 50 parishioners expressed their interest in taking their first step onto the property ladder.
Last month the Constable, John Refault, issued a call to his constituents urging them to fill out an application form so that the parish could gauge the need for affordable housing. He said he had been encouraged by the initial response and had even been contacted by several landowners who have suggested locations for the site.
Mr Refault is now looking for a suitable site for the project and has set up an advisory panel comprising four residents of the parish, who have not been named, to direct the early stages of the scheme.
In the future, the panel will consider applications from would-be buyers and will allocate homes if the scheme is launched.
‘We need to look at sites together with Planning and then work out the costs,’ Mr Refault said. ‘When we have a viable proposal, I’ll take it to a parish assembly so that St Peter as a whole can decide if it wants to back the scheme.
‘We are still at an early stage, but I believe it’s a worthwhile project to give the younger people in the parish the chance to become home owners.’
Mr Refault stressed that parishioners would fit the criteria required to buy one of the proposed homes on the development if they have never owned a freehold property before.
‘I would like to clarify that we would not exclude applications from those who have already bought a flat on a share transfer or flying freehold basis,’ he added.
If the scheme gets the go-ahead, Mr Refault intends for buyers to purchase 75 per cent of the property, with the parish retaining the remainder to ensure that the property stays within the price range of first-time buyers in the future.
A SUCCESSFUL housing development for first-time buyers in Trinity could be the last building scheme on the parish books ‘for a good while’, Constable Philip Le Sueur said earlier this year.
He made the announcement in January after the second phase of the Le Grand Clos development, off Rue ès Picots in the parish, got under way.
Five new social rented homes for the over- 55s are to be built on the site where 25 units for first-time buyers went up last year.
In total 41 homes will occupy the site, which was once a field given to the parish to develop homes for people with a connection to the area.
However, Mr Le Sueur has said that the parish will probably not see any more large-scale housing developments for some time once the current project is finished.
He added: ‘Trinity is a rural parish and we just can’t keep building on green fields. ‘The bulk of the housing, as I’m sure everyone realises, is going to have to happen in built-up areas like St Helier,’ he said.
‘It would be nice to say we could build a house and garden for everybody, but the reality is that we live in a small Island with finite resources. ‘I think Trinity has played its small part in doing what we’ve done.’
Mr Le Sueur added that the housing complex had already created a central point for the area, to give it a rural village feel. The new homes, which filled up quickly, sit very close to the parish hall, post office, shop and the Trinity Arms pub.
