I successfully laid an amendment to the 2015 budget instructing T&R and Housing Department’s to look at opportunities to help first time buyers get on the property ladder. The one argument made against such initiatives was that it could be inflationary. Whilst I agree that this is possible, I do not think that the current housing market circumstances would lead to price increases. The market has stagnated and people are having difficulty selling their homes. It is therefore unlikely prices will be put up to take advantage of any new initiatives that are brought in at this point in time. My speech is below.
Sir, I think it is fair to say that witnessing the altercation between the Housing Minister and Treasury&Resources Minister on Wednesday, brought it home to me just how necessary this amendment is.
I have been concerned for some time that nothing was being done to help people get on the property ladder and had hoped that this might be addressed in the 2015 budget. When I was knocking on doors during the last election campaign I met young, hard working families who were living with their parents because they just couldn’t afford a new house. It is now 2.5 years since the election and nothing has been done to help them and I know that for most of those families, their position hasn’t changed since 2012. This has contributed to the stagnation of the local property market, which in turn has impacted on the economy.
Whilst I appreciate there is an issue in relation to the availability of housing, it is true to say there are houses for sale that would make ideal homes for first time buyers. However, they are unable to buy them due to a number of financial reasons, including being able to get a mortgage in the first place due to the difficult lending environment, being able to raise enough money for a deposit and the costs of purchasing a property.
My amendment is basically requesting Housing and T&R to knock heads together and give this matter the attention I think it deserves. Now, as a consequence of that they may decide that the disadvantages of any potential scheme may outweigh the disdvantages. However, I would be very disappointed if that were found to be the case.
I haven’t any set views on what would work best and it is true to say that there are a lot of different schemes already in place in other jurisdictions. Jersey has introduced various measures that appear to have stimulated the property market, including reduced stamp duty for first time buyers and a partial loan scheme. In addition, the UK has introduced a Help to Buy scheme which, though not solely aimed at first time buyers, is designed to help people onto the property ladder through loans or guarantees.
Other jurisdictions with schemes include the Isle of Man, Scotland and further afield, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In fact, Guernsey appears to be the exception to the rule when it comes to support for first time buyers.
However, Guernsey has nothing and I don’t see this changing anytime soon unless we do something about it.
I therefore urge members to support this amendment.