During a Scrutiny hearing, Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham and Kevin Lemasney, of Locate Jersey, the agency which promotes the Island overseas, confirmed that 17 applications had been approved this year for 21E status, under which wealthy individuals receive tax breaks and housing rights if they choose to move to the Island.
Senator Farnham said that interest in the scheme had been much higher than during 2020 and was well above average this year.
‘We’ve had 18 applications so far this year against nine in the same period of 2020. Out of those 18, 17 have been approved. The average over the last ten years has been about 18, but it does fluctuate a little bit.
‘We’ve had 22 relocations this year, while we’ve approved 18. Some of those will be carried forward from the approvals in the last year. I think this is a bit of an exceptional year.
‘There’s been more interest since the pandemic, but it’s still in the context of the population, a relatively small number of people,’ he said.
He added that measures had been introduced to tighten eligibility for 21E status.
‘We have changed the 21E policy whereby future applicants will have to show a minimum level of net wealth. We’ve also increased the minimum price for homes.
‘For an apartment, the minimum price for a 21E will be £1.25 million and for a house the minimum price goes from £1.7 million to £2.5 million. The idea of that is to keep this category of resident out of the residential market.’
Mr Lemasney said that 21E applications had slowed during the past couple of months but an unprecedented value of property was set to be bought this year.
‘There is no ceiling at the minute on the number of 21Es [that come to Island] and that’s the gift really of States Members. If the House felt that there were too many people coming in and wanted to limit the number to 20 or whatever, then at some stage during the year, we’d have to close the books and not accept any more applications.
‘What I’d like to think, though, is that this is almost a sector in itself within the Economic Development Department. Each one of these new arrivals is bringing a minimum tax of £145,000 per annum. They’re really costing us literally nothing. They’re providing, in many cases, employment for local people in businesses. We expect that by the end of August, we’ll have breached £100 million in property acquisitions for the first time ever.
‘That brings into the Treasury £7.5 million of much-needed income. I think if we approach it in purely economic development terms, there is a case not necessarily to increase the numbers, but certainly not to limit the numbers.
‘On the other hand, for the Island there are other pressures such as political pressure or planning pressure or housing pressure.’
Earlier this year, a luxury mansion in St Brelade was believed to have broken Jersey property records after reportedly being sold for £31 million. Eden House, which overlooks Ouaisné Common and St Brelade’s Bay, was marketed by estate agents Wilsons Knight Frank and had an asking price of £25 million but it is understood a bidding war between two wealthy individuals led to the property selling for around £6 million more than the asking price.
