JERSEY’S stated aims for the number of accepted high-value residency are “perilously close to a sham”, a St Brelade Deputy has said as he called for tighter limits to be imposed.
Deputy Jonathan Renouf is calling for the government to limit the number of high-value residency applications it approves to its stated objective of 15 per year.
The politician, who has previously sought clarity over the government’s approach to the scheme, said the policy had been “largely ignored” in recent years and argued that the programme “should operate within clear tramlines”.
In response to a written question from Deputy Renouf last month, Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham stated that – when the programme was established in 1974 – the aim was it would result in 15 housing consents per year for people arriving and settling in Jersey.
He confirmed that “this objective was reaffirmed in 2005 and remains in place”.
But in the report accompanying his proposition, Deputy Renouf noted that there had been more than 15 approvals granted in nine out of the last 12 years. In 2025, a record 37 applications were accepted.
Deputy Renouf said the scheme was “running red hot”.
“This proposition does not attempt to close down the high-value residency programme,” he continued.
“It does not apply any new restrictions to the programme. It does not change the qualifying criteria. All it does is ask that the government stick to the policy aspiration/objective it says is in place.”
He explained that, if approved, his proposition would turn the ’15-per-year’ aspiration into a “firm policy”.
Deputy Renouf noted the proposal would also allow for “year-to-year flexibility”, by using a five-year rolling average as the metric by which the policy should be measured.
He contended that if the government wanted a different approach in place “it should bring forward proposals to change the policy aspiration, not simply ignore the current policy”.
“It is important for public confidence in the HVR policy that it should operate within
clear tramlines,” he added.
“Given the obvious drift away from the stated policy over the last ten to 15 years, it is the right moment for the Assembly to debate the issue.”
Deputy Farnham told the JEP last week that, despite the number of approvals, the high-value residency community had seen “modest and controlled” growth with a net increase of only eight people per year on average – due to some residents leaving the Island or exiting the programme over time.
While 184 high-value residents have arrived in Jersey since 2016, 104 have also exited the scheme.
But Deputy Renouf said such an argument was subject to “a number of flaws”.
“First, it relies on a policy failure to keep numbers in check,” he continued.
“The aim of government policy is to keep HVR’s in the Island. It does not make sense to rely on HVR’s leaving to compensate for the large number of arrivals, when policy is designed to achieve the opposite.
“Second, government does not control departures, but it does control arrivals.”
Deputy Renouf’s proposition could be debated at the States sitting on 24 February.
