Grouville Constable John Le Maistre said that a lack of brownfield sites in the area meant that alternative land for homes needed to be identified and that work was under way to find appropriate sites.
Currently there are no affordable homes for younger families within the parish.
Mr Le Maistre said building on agricultural land was not the preferred option, but was something that would have to happen.
He said: ‘We are looking to identify land to build affordable houses and that work is in the very early stages.
‘We have not got any brownfield sites in Grouville, which means we will have to build on agricultural land of course, and that is not something as a farmer I would like to do, but we will be identifying the land where the loss will have the least impact.
‘It is too early to mention any sites, but we are open to ideas.
‘We have not got any affordable homes in this area and we want to get younger families into the community.’
His comments come after a report last week highlighted a jump in house prices in the Island.
The mean price of a three-bedroom house rose by £59,000 to £664,000 between the first and second quarter of this year. In the same period four-bedroom homes rose by £55,000 and now cost, on average, £979,000.
Former St Peter Constable John Refault also said it was time to start building in green zones to increase the supply of affordable housing in the Island.
Grouville’s Deputy, Carolyn Labey, insisted she was against building on good agricultural land and that the long-term answer to Jersey’s housing problem was having a robust population policy.
She added: ‘Grouville does need to play its part in bringing forward suitable housing for first-time buyers.
‘I have always been against building on good agricultural land, but there may be pockets that can be built on. They don’t have to be massive housing estates – there can be pockets of houses that are built with five here and seven there on redundant land.
‘That is not a long-term answer. A long-term answer is to have a robust population policy and to have time visas for workers in agriculture and hospitality.
‘There is reluctance to bring something forward until we know exactly what is going to happen after Brexit. I hope when that happens then work will begin.’
