Tom Rylatt
2025 Guernsey election candidate

HOUSING

I support the manifesto: 'Our Plan for Guernsey: 2025-29 And Beyond'.

A PLACE TO CALL HOME FOR EVERY ISLANDER

Guernsey’s housing crisis has made it impossible for many to rent or buy a property. For our island to thrive, our young people need the stability, confidence, and community ties that home ownership brings. The next States needs to recognise that the market is not working, which impacts the economy and people’s health. It needs to be decisive and make bold policy interventions to solve the housing crisis.

Key policies we support:

  1. Establishing a new tax-free Guernsey Property Savings Account (GPSA) for first-time buyers to save up to £60,000 towards the purchase of their first property or a rental deposit.

  2. Empowering developers to build more affordable houses for first-time buyers by creating a new ‘intermediate’ category of affordable housing using planning covenants to lock-in a 30% discount on market value.

  3. Scrapping document duty for purchasers and developers of new properties sold for less than £600,000 to first time buyers.

  4. Pioneering the ‘Design, Engineer, Construct’ pathway in local secondary schools, to help grow our own talent, enabling young people to enter the construction industry and earn recognised qualifications in this field.

BACKING FIRST-TIME BUYERS

Guernsey needs more properties that are suitable for first-time buyers and the housebuilding industry needs help to deliver these.

We support:

  • Establishing a new tax-free Guernsey Property Savings Account (GPSA) for first-time buyers to save up to £60,000 towards the purchase of their first property or a rental deposit.

  • Empowering developers to build more affordable houses for first-time buyers by creating a new ‘intermediate’ category of affordable housing using planning covenants to lock-in a 30% discount on market value.

  • Reforming existing planning policy so more homes can be built within a developable area, for example, building up rather than out, where appropriate.

  • Reducing the tax on profits to 10% for developers building and selling affordable properties for under £600,000.

  • Scrapping document duty for purchasers and developers of new properties sold for less than £600,000 to first time buyers.

DELIVERING THE HOUSING GUERNSEY NEEDS

We need a long-term strategy that encourages and incentivises development.

To do this we support:

  • Ensuring the Island Development Plan identifies sites for new homes at twice the rate that they are needed to allow for those that will not be built.

  • Adopting a ‘build on time or make way for green space’ approach, penalising slow development by cutting buildable areas by 20% after three years, and converting them into green space.

  • Ensuring the Island Development Plan zones the King Edward VII and Castel Hospital sites to allow for new homes. • Encouraging developers to build mixed housing, prioritising social and affordable housing while allowing private sales to ensure projects are viable.

  • Allowing certain unused greenhouse sites in or adjacent to main centres, main centre outer areas and rural centres to be used as developable brownfield sites for new homes.

  • Protecting our heritage whilst shaping the future: integrating historical facades into new developments, unlocking sites like Mill Street and Mansell Street.

  • Working with housing associations to build more social housing, using fair and transparent partnerships. • Encouraging regeneration of brownfield sites by trialling lower waste disposal fees.

  • Replacing the current GP11 social housing policy: developers should pay a fixed fee for building projects with more than one home - this money will help fund local infrastructure and more social housing.

  • Encouraging redevelopment of derelict properties in development zones outlined in the Island Development Plan by introducing a ‘Derelict Property Charge’.

  • Allowing a small, gradual increase in Open Market inscriptions - only when it benefits the community as a whole.

  • Releasing States’ sites to allow their redevelopment such as Lukis House, Swissville, St Julian’s House and the Duchess of Kent/ Vauquiedor.

SUPPORTING GUERNSEY’S RENTERS

  • Fair, appropriate and proportionate rights for both renters and landlords.

  • Encouraging the construction of ‘build-to-let’ developments by lowering the rate of income tax on ‘build-to-let’ rental income to 10% for five years.

  • Abolishing the misguided 2% penalty rate on Document Duty for second homes, which has failed to raise revenue.

  • Encouraging landlords to adequately maintain their rental properties by allowing appropriate tax deductions for the costs of repairs and improvements.

  • Introducing a commerciality test on interest relief, mirroring Jersey, ensuring fairness and preventing abuse of the system.

BOLSTERING OUR HOUSING STOCK

We need to enable builders to build more. Right now, there are real constraints on their capacity to do so.

We support:

  • Moving away from using public money to finance costly ‘construction villages’ and instead allowing contractors to house workers in temporary on-site accommodation where appropriate.

  • De-regulating the overly restrictive and conflicting rules on the occupation of the Open Market to allow occupation by unrelated parties.

  • Fast-tracking work permits for construction workers, provided they are accommodated on-site, in hotels, or in lodging-houses (to avoid pressure on the local market).

  • Guaranteeing fair and equal consideration of permits for construction workers with longstanding experience in Guernsey.

  • Pioneering the ‘Design, Engineer, Construct’ pathway in local secondary schools, to help grow our own talent, enabling young people to enter the construction industry and earn recognised qualifications in this field.

  • Promote, support and develop the apprenticeship schemes offered by The Guernsey Institute to equip apprentices for the construction industry.

  • Changing the rules around procurement so that future government contracts include new targets for the development of local skills.

FASTER, MORE EFFICIENT DELIVERY

Guernsey’s Development & Planning Authority must be enabled to help deliver new homes as quickly as possible.

We support:

  • Expanding the use of ‘permissions-in-principle’ to ensure developers know sooner if a project is feasible.

  • Empowering a new Housing Enabling Officer to streamline the passage of planning applications through government, paid for by developers that are willing to pay to ‘fast track’ their applications.

  • Enhancing transparency by holding regular public drop-ins with the Development & Planning Authority.

  • Improving accountability in the planning system by giving appeal tribunals the powers to award reasonable costs to those who successfully appeal unreasonable planning decisions.

  • Increasing the accessibility and availability of planning officers.

  • More rigorously scrutinising the efficiency of the Development & Planning Authority to ensure it is delivering for islanders

TACKLING HOMELESSNESS

Guernsey is facing a homelessness crisis, with a shortage of emergency housing and a lack of clear pathways out of homelessness. We are committed to ending homelessness.

We support:

  • Partnering with local charities.

  • Making housing a statutory right.

  • Providing emergency housing.

  • Committing to the elimination of the social housing waiting list.

  • Acting on the Homelessness Delivery and Implementation Plan.