HELPING younger Islanders achieve homeownership is a challenge that has been faced by successive Housing Ministers as the financial barriers blocking the first rung on the property ladder have grown steeper.
Spikes in house prices, the cost of living and interest rates – coupled with stagnant wages – are among the factors that have widened the gap in purchasing power between the first-time buyers of today and those of 20 years ago.
And a recent scrutiny hearing has highlighted just how large that gap may have become.
Housing Minister Sam Mézec last week provided an update on the performance of the First Step assisted-purchase initiative delivered in partnership with Andium Homes.
Backed by £10 million of government funding, it helped eligible first-time buyers access a contribution of up to 40% towards the purchase of an open-market property.
Speaking to the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel, he said that 65 loans had been given out in total across four tranches since the scheme it was introduced two years ago.
However, the funding for the scheme has now been used and, while Deputy Mézec is keen to see it restarted, it is currently paused.
He also revealed that the average age of those benefiting from the scheme was 38 years old.
The youngest beneficiary was 27, while the oldest was 52.
“Nobody wants to get themselves into a position where they are then struggling”
Speaking to the JEP, panel vice-chair Deputy Tom Coles noted that the statistics only reflected the take up of the First Step scheme.
But he added that the fact the Island has multiple assisted-purchase initiatives “does show that it is harder for younger people to buy in the private market”.
The most recent annual statement from the Office of the Superintendent Registrar showed that just under 600 babies were born in Jersey in 2025.
This is the lowest number of births recorded since 1945 and also marks a 2.5% decrease in comparison to 2024 and a 30% drop in comparison 2015.
Asked if delayed access to homeownership was influencing the Island’s declining birth rate, Deputy Coles said: “It’s part of it, because people want financial security.
“Nobody wants to struggle, nobody wants to get themselves into a position where they are then struggling – so absolutely people are having to make choices.”
He also noted that it was one of the factors that could influence Islanders deciding whether to leave Jersey.
“When you can go buy or rent somewhere in the UK that is significantly cheaper than Jersey, then it is something that people will actually consider for their own futures.”
Panel member, Deputy Alex Curtis said that, while the First Step figures were “not surprising”, it was also “not a Jersey specific issue”.
“This is something that western and European countries are seeing happen all over, that we are seeing the age of homeownership increasing.
“There will be an impact and that impact, again, is not unique to Jersey. While we might see people move, we are also seeing people who are in their 30s considering Jersey to be the right place to start a family and come back to.”
Deputy Curtis added: “While we are discussing housing affordability and how it is to get onto the property ladder, the issue remains [of] understanding the cost of delivery of housing.
“If a house is unaffordable but the amount being paid represents the cost to build it, we are not getting to the bottom of actually how we provide housing or where we need new housing.”
What do the numbers say?
According to Statistics Jersey, the average price of a two-bedroom house in 2006 was £303,000.
As of the end of last year, this figure had risen to £552,000.
Over the same period, the average costs of a two-bedroom flat and a three-bedroom house went from £259,000 and £375,000 to £496,000 and £732,000 respectively.
The latest house price figures have shown a slight decrease in property prices across the board. The new report showed that average prices fell by 1% from 2024 to 2025 and most property types saw decreases in annual mean and median prices from 2024 to 2025 – except for 4-bedroom houses, which saw an increase.
However, while a working household with an average net income would be able to service a mortgage affordably on the purchase price of a median-priced one-bedroom flat, they would not be able to service a mortgage affordably on the purchase price of a two-bedroom flat or a median-priced house of any size.
Statistics Jersey’s average earnings reports have documented that, from 2001 to 2020, earnings remained “essentially flat” in real terms, increasing by 0.7%.
As of June 2025, the mean average earnings of full-time equivalent employees was £1,040 per week, having risen slightly from the figure of £1,000 per week recorded a year earlier.
“Saving for that 5%, 10% deposit does take quite a lot and longer”
Nicky Totty-Golding, head of residential sales at Gaudin & Co, said that the firm was more often seeing first-time buyers in their late 20s to early 30s.
She cited rises in the cost of living, including rents, food costs and nursery school fees.
“Saving for that 5%, 10% deposit does take quite a lot and longer,” she explained, estimating that 15 to 20 years ago the average first-time buyer would have been closer to their early 20s.
Jason Olver, a residential sales negotiator for the company, also highlighted the difficulties of Islanders in their early 20s who were attempting to buy on a single-income.
“Unless you have been very fortunate to get help from parents, inheritance or things like that, a lot of these couples need to be joint-income just to be able to afford the mortgage.”
And he noted additional factors that mortgage providers might take into account, such as a car loan or other debt.
