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22.10.04
7 Deputy S.Y. Mézec of the Minister for Treasury and Resources regarding
Affordable Housing at South Hill (OQ.97/2022)
As shareholder representative of the S.o.J.D.C. (States of Jersey Development Company), will the Minister advise what instructions, if any, he has given to the Minister for Infrastructure to increase the proportion of affordable homes to be delivered on South Hill and the Waterfront above the current 15 per cent target?
Deputy I.J. Gorst of St. Mary , St. Ouen and St. Peter (The Minister for Treasury and
Resources):
As stated in my response to the Deputy ’s written question, S.o.J.D.C. continues to liaise with Treasury and Housing policy officers as they work on their plans to maximise the affordability housing provision beyond the minimum stipulated by the previous Council of Ministers of 15 per cent for South Hill. This work aims to preserve the overall viability of the development together with the delivery of public realm and infrastructure improvements on the site. S.o.J.D.C. are similarly reviewing their plans for the Waterfront in close co-operation with both my department and the Housing Policy Unit. I have not given any specific instructions.
- Deputy S.Y. Mézec :
The Deputy will remember in the previous term of office he spoke about his discomfort at the 15 per cent target being proposed by that previous Government when I provided him opportunities to vote for a higher target. Can he confirm that it is his intention that a government-owned developer, for which he is the shareholder representative, will deliver above the paltry target set by the previous Government?
Deputy I.J. Gorst :
I thought I was going to be able to answer in the positive to this question this morning, but in light of the Deputy ’s letter to the Chief Minister yesterday reminding Ministers of decisions in this Assembly it makes it more difficult for me to support him because there was a vote in this Assembly that said the reverse. Notwithstanding that fact and my desire not to play politics, I do believe that greater levels of affordable housing should be delivered on these sites, which is why the review work is being undertaken and the reanalysis being undertaken. Of course it is not just now about the affordability of houses, it is about the whole structuring of the developments. Although he will be aware that in the bridging Island Plan it was implicit that the States-owned site brought forward, aside from those 2 sites, that would assume a maximum of 100 per cent affordability and have to work down from 100 per cent or prove the case down.
- Deputy M.B. Andrews of St. Helier North :
Does the Minister believe economic profit through cross-subsidisation can generate reinvested capital to artificially lower market prices to support first-time buyers and to home ownership?
Deputy I.J. Gorst :
If I have understood the question correctly then I believe the answer is yes.
- Deputy S.Y. Mézec :
From the Minister’s previous answer about previous States Assembly decisions, he is of course aware that he is able to bring a rescindment motion if he wishes to seek a mandate for an increased target. Could he let the Assembly know whether it would be his intention or not to do so and, if it is not, will he support another Member’s intentions to bring a proposition aiming to do the same thing?
Deputy I.J. Gorst :
I think the point of my conversations, the Minister for Housing and Communities’ conversations and the Minister for Infrastructure’s conversations with both S.o.J.D.C. and Andium through the New Places Committee is that they will consider what is possible and then we will return to this Assembly once that work has been undertaken, if necessary.