A RECORD number of high-value resident applications have been accepted in Jersey this year – with 36 super-wealthy families approved to arrive on the Island by the end of 2025.
A further 35 applications are already in process for next year, with the expectation that many of these will want to arrive before the end of March 2026.
That is more than double the annual average of 15 over the past decade, according to figures from the government’s relocation arm Locate Jersey.
To be eligible to apply for the high-value residency scheme, applicants must have a “comfortable and sustainable” annual worldwide income of £1.25 million, personal wealth of more than £10 million in assets, and generate an annual minimum tax contribution of £250,000.
On arrival to the Island, they must either buy a house over £3.5 million or an apartment worth more than £1.75 million.
New data, collated by residential estate agent Knight Frank has revealed that individuals moving to Jersey via the high-value residency scheme scheme have been trending wealthier since 2020.
Average wealth on application stood at £135m last year – up from £48m in 2020.
The new Islanders are also spending more on homes too. The average price paid for property reached a record £7.8m last year, beating the previous record of £6.3m set in 2023.
In a recent article entitled, ‘Why Britain’s billionaires are fleeing to Jersey’, The Times attributed the increase in high-value residents moving to Jersey to rising taxes for the rich in Britain – with the 2024 abolition of non-dom status followed by a new “mansion tax” on homes worth over £2 million in the latest budget.
Oliver Rodbourne, head of Channel Islands in Knight Frank’s country department, said: “What we’ve seen is there’s people who perhaps would have stayed in the UK under the old tax regimes, but were maybe on the fence, maybe were thinking about it – and perhaps the last two and a half years have been the sort of indication for them to say, actually, we’re going to go investigate it.”
Mr Rodbourne also highlighted Jersey’s proximity and familiarity to those moving from the mainland.
“Brexit probably has played a role in this as well,” he explained.
“There’s a big difference between getting on a plane – where you don’t need a passport – for 30 minutes, where everything is fundamentally the same, as opposed to going to a new country where you need a passport, where you don’t speak the language, you perhaps don’t know the culture, you don’t know anyone, you’ve got very little connection to it.”
Mr Rodbourne noted that those who were looking for better weather might “go further afield”, but that Jersey was “top of the list” for those seeking an improved tax situation.
“At the moment, there’s no reason why over the next few years while this government is still in place – unless they change their tact – why we’re not going to continue to see this movement.”
