Guernsey housing statistics

For the first time, a detailed picture of Guernsey's housing has been compiled.

The States now know exactly how many homes there are on Guernsey, how many bedrooms they have and where they are. It's hoped the statistics will help develop a better-informed housing policy.

The statistics show Guernsey has more than 25,000 domestic properties. In all 77% are houses or bungalows and 22% are apartments. 63% of homes are owner occupied and just over a quarter are rented.

A total of 8% of Guernsey's housing stock is used used as social housing.

Most of the housing - a third of the total - is in St Peter Port. St Sampson and the Vale each have 15%. Despite being the largest parish in Guernsey, Castel has just 13% of the island's housing. The smallest parish, Torteval, has less than 2% with 405 homes.

When it comes to the local and open market there is a marked difference. Just 6% of homes are available on the open market - the rest are for licence holders and locals.

The majority of local market properties have three bedrooms or fewer, while most open market units have three bedrooms or more.

Guernsey States Economist Dr Andy Sloan says the figures are useful because they will help determine the best housing strategy.

He explained: "If we'd had it ten years ago we'd now know the number of new properties that had been developed that were one-beds versus two-beds, as it is we've got a snapshot now and over time we'll be able to see where new properties are being built."

In 2010, 87 properties were built in Guernsey and 24 properties were demolished.

Finally, among the statistics there is some hope for those Guernsey people struggling to find somewhere to live. In the last six months of 2010 Guernsey saw a net increase of 63 domestic properties. (from find.gg)

How do they know? No-one asked me.