JERSEY residents have long bemoaned the cost of living locally, while quietly accepting it as the price to pay for life on a beautiful, safe Island – but a new report says it’s not simply an inevitable fact of living in a small jurisdiction: it’s government policy.
In their latest analysis, independent think tank Policy Centre Jersey says political decisions – particularly in areas such as housing and transport – and government are directly inflating everyday costs for Islanders.
Policy Centre senior adviser Sir Mark Boleat wrote in the report that the high cost of buying a home, for example, was linked to “political decisions which have which have restricted supply”.
The report echoes concerns raised in a separate £90,000 government-commissioned Barriers to Business report, published in 2023, which concluded that the government itself was one of the biggest obstacles to doing business in Jersey.
And while Islanders continue to face sustained cost pressures, it emerged recently that a group of politicians specifically set up to tackle the issue failed to meet for nearly three months.
The think tank’s report pointed to planning rules and process as a key reason for the high cost of housing in Jersey – included delays in decision-making, third-party appeals, environmental restrictions and extra requirements placed on developers.
The report highlighted the requirement that new flats in town must now include a parking space. According to the report, this adds about £50,000 to the cost of each apartment.
It also noted that recent rules increasing the minimum size of apartments make homes more expensive and limit choice for people who may prefer smaller, lower-cost options.
The Policy Centre added that even when planning applications meet all policy requirements and gain the support of planning officers, politicians have stood in the way.
It pointed to the case of Les Sablons – a £120 million development in Broad Street featuring 238 apartments, a 103-room aparthotel, shops, and restaurants – first submitted in 2021.
The plans were initially refused by the Planning Committee in December 2022. When developer Le Masurier appealed, an independent inspector said the plans should go ahead, but, in a surprise and controversial move, Assistant Environment Minister Hilary Jeune then vetoed the development.
While the Royal Court later deemed the decision “unlawful” and ministers decided the development could go ahead, Le Masurier said that the time lost – in combination with a 15% affordable housing requirement imposed by government – threatened the viability of the scheme.
The developer said that construction costs and interest rates had risen significantly since the application was first submitted.
Planning rules had also stood in the way of the Island getting its own low-cost supermarket, the report noted – with Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel’s plan to bring a French alternative to Jersey “held up over zoning of site” and a particular planning clause.
Groceries in Jersey are on average 14% more expensive than in the UK, the Policy Centre said – but the lack of discount retailers in the Island means that low-income households can pay up to 49% more than their UK counterparts.
The report read: “The fact remains that Jersey’s special circumstances mean that those who shop at, for example, Waitrose or M&S, are paying 14% more for their food than they would in the UK.
It added: “Low income families could be paying as much as 49% more than their UK counterparts because they do not have access to a Lidl, Aldi, Costco or street markets.”
Taxi regulation was another example of policy pushing up prices highlighted by PCJ, who said current rules make it difficult to offer lower-cost or part-time taxi services.
To get a vehicle licence, the report expalined that a driver must meet strict conditions, including taxi driving full time, covering a minimum mileage, being affiliated with a booking company, and using a vehicle that meets detailed requirements.
“These are significant barriers to entry, which presumably is the intention. The result is very high taxi fares,” the report said.
The report concluded that the best way to reduce the cost of living is to increase the supply of housing and open the market to lower-cost services.
Sir Mark Boleat said: “The obvious area where the cost of living can be reduced is housing, which requires an understanding that the price of housing reflects the balance between supply and demand and, following on from this, policies that increase the supply of housing rather than frustrate it.”
On transport, the report added: “If the regulations were changed to permit a low-cost tax service, the higher costs of operating in Jersey would mean that prices would be higher than for comparable services in the UK.”
The JEP has asked the Government for comment.
Cost of living in numbers
- The Policy Centre’s report comes after a survey commissioned by the think tank in January found that 29% saw the cost of living as the most important issue facing Jersey, with housing second at 17%.
- The most recent Jersey Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, which gathered insights from 1,200 Islanders, revealed that 32% of households had struggled to meet their housing costs in 2024.
- The challenge was most acute for those in social rental accommodation, where more than half of households found it difficult to keep up with their housing expenses, according to the report recently published by Statistics Jersey.
- Published in April, the island’s latest RPI figures showed that, during the 12 months to this March, the inflation rate increased by 2.3%, down from the inflation figure of 2.5% reported in December.
