‘Use it or lose it’ warning for landowners not building affordable homes

OWNERS of rezoned fields who choose not to develop them could have the lucrative designation – which can significantly increase the land’s value – taken off them under a “use it or lose it” planning policy.

Environment Minister Steve Luce said he was keen to develop the proposal to increase the supply of affordable homes in Jersey.

At the moment, four of the 16 sites rezoned for affordable homes in the Bridging Island Plan, which is the blueprint against which all planning decisions are made, have not been put forward to planning permission.

If developed, these would yield more than 100 homes.

Under the BIP, Deputy Luce has – since March – had the power to force landowners of rezoned sites to sell their land to the States.

This is because, under Policy ‘H5’ of the plan, which came into force in March 2022, the States can compulsorily purchase sites earmarked for affordable housing if work has not progressed withing three years of the BIP’s approval.

However, Deputy Luce said he was reluctant to wield this power.

Appearing before the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel this week, he said: “I am a free-market-economy man and just because someone has the ability to build homes on a field they own, I’m not sure that we need to be forcing them.

“Compulsory purchase is not somewhere I would choose to go and I would be much happier to take that rezoning away and return that field back to agriculture, saying ‘you’ve had the ability to develop this field but you have chosen not to. That is your choice, but you don’t retain the ability to do that in future’.”

Deputy Luce added that there were several reasons why a landowner might not progress with a development, including an expectation that their land would be used for open-market housing, which has a far higher value.

It is not only some rezoned affordable homes’ sites which are sitting undeveloped. Several large developments of more than 50 homes have planning permission but are yet to get off the ground.

Deputy Luce told Scrutiny that these included:

• Les Sablons in Broad Street – 238 homes, site cleared but not started
• Apollo Hotel – 79 homes, site cleared but not started
• Romerils site in Dumaresq Street – 53 homes, approved but not started.
• The Savoy Hotel – 53 homes, not started
• Randalls Brewery site in Clare Street  – 93 homes, first phase completed but construction ongoing
• South Hill – 139 homes, site clearance under way

This would yield more than 600 homes, Deputy Luce said, but he had no power to compel developers to build.

“The planning team and Island Plan can be as good as they can be and the policies can be working but there is no compulsion at the end of the day for developers to go off and build.”

He added that global factors such as the cost of raw materials and the price of borrowing may make these projects currently unviable for developers.

Although there remains a strong demand for affordable housing in Jersey, Deputy Luce told Scrutiny that the assumptions on which the three-year BIP were based have not played out, particularly when it comes to the Island’s population.

The plan was based not only on a net shortfall of 1,800 homes from the last Island Plan (2011-20) but also started from an estimated population at the time of 107,800 and net migration of +800 a year.

This translated to a need for 4,000 homes to be built or in progress before the end of 2025. Currently 3,400 are in the pipeline but the shortfall is inconsequential because the latest population is 103,650.

Deputy Luce said that, if the assumptions had been correct, there would have been an urgent need for a new Island Plan now but because of the static population, the BIP could potentially stretch to a full ten-year period.

However, he added that that would be a decision for the next Assembly. He said that returning to a full ten-year plan could cost over £1m to develop. 

After the hearing this week, panel Chair Deputy Hilary Jeune said: “The minister was clear that the key driver for an Island Plan is housing need, but that population has flatlined since the last Island Plan, meaning our current provisions for new development are adequate.

“Deputy Luce said he wanted to amend the Planning and Building Laws before the end of his term in office to allow for sections of the plan to be amended, which cannot currently be achieved.

“The panel supports this idea in principle, as it would make for a more responsive planning guidance document and avoid the costly exercise of developing a new plan if it is not required.

“It could also allow Jersey to respond to unexpected global challenges in an agile way. However, it will need effective monitoring of the plan’s continued progress in light of Islanders’ needs and we look forward to reviewing the minister’s proposals.”