A £250,000 policy could be developed to ensure properties are not left empty and abandoned for extended periods of time.
The Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel has lodged an amendment to the 2026 Budget asking for funds from the Cabinet Office expenditure to be ringfenced specifically to tackle the problem of empty homes.
The panel, chaired by Deputy Hilary Jeune, said that the move comes in response to “clear evidence” from the Jersey Youth Assembly that the government should prioritise “making better use of existing housing”.
In 2022, Deputy Montfort Tadier successfully brought a proposition to the Assembly which called for options to be drawn up to ensure fewer properties were left vacant, which could include an empty property tax.
However, earlier this year, Housing Minister Sam Mézec – a Reform Jersey colleague of Deputy Tadier – said that work on a potential tax on empty residential properties could not be progressed due to budget constraints.
Bringing the matter back to the Assembly, the Panel said that, “in light of the States Assembly’s existing decision, the minister’s confirmation that work cannot progress without funding, and the strong call from the JYA for government action on empty homes”, it was important to allocate and ringfence funding in this year’s Budget proposals.
The amendment also explained that a previous £500,000 allocation for the work was “almost entirely surrendered” as underspend at the end of 2023.
No money is allocated in the proposed 2026-2029 Budget for tackling empty homes.
The JYA reviewed the government’s spending proposals and published its findings in a report, which showed that repurposing empty properties to boost the housing stock was their second most preferred policy option for improving access to housing. The highest single response from JYA members when asked what initiatives they would implement to improve access to housing was the introduction of an empty homes tax.
The Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel said in their amendment that the Youth Assembly’s feedback “demonstrates a strong youth mandate for government to treat empty homes as a priority housing issue and to invest in mechanisms that bring such properties back into use”.
The panel added that it recognised the Island’s “broader fiscal pressures” and proposed half of the sum previously approved at £250,000.
“This amendment ensures that the programme can be restarted without diminishing the existing housing budget line and responds directly to the needs and expectations of younger islanders, who face the greatest long-term consequences of Jersey’s housing pressures,” the panel concluded.
The Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel comprises; Deputy Hilary Jeune as chair, vice-chair Deputy Tom Coles and Deputies Alex Curtis and David Warr and Constable David Johnson.
Deputy Mezec scrapped the government’s Empty Homes Service in April last year after only about a year in existence. A report issued previously had shown that 260 properties were reported to it in the first six months.
