More than 300 families waiting for new homes

MORE than 300 families are waiting for the States to house them, according to official figures.

And the waiting list has grown by more than half since 2007.

The Housing Department said the rise was caused by an increase in applicants and the temporary loss of some social housing because of the redevelopment of estates such as the Grand Bouet.

The latest States Strategic Monitoring Report shows that 210 families were on Housing Department and Guernsey Housing Association waiting lists at the end of 2007. On 30 June this year that figure stood at 327, a rise of 56%.
(from GEP)

dont know why they have so many waiting when we have 3 houses empty where i am ..they take so long to fill them.
these have been upgraded weeks ago.

From what i've seen their 'upgrading' is no more than a quick paint job and a few kitchen units bunged on the wall. The standard of work is generally very poor.

Now they say they are short of land ,yet i know they gave up some land from housing to industrial at the Grand Bouet site
that was so silly..they should us it to build homes on
they also gave land on the new post office site away this was zoned for housing and they build a post office on it .

the waiting list is growing because people cant afford to live in the private sector because of the high rents that greedy landlords are charging.

you are right and with costs going up higher it is going to get worse .

The waiting list has grown because we have had to re house over 300 existing tenants in order to demolish those estates and get the new rebuilding programme started. This has led to a degree of stagnation of the waiting lists and for that i apologise but i cannot magic homes out of thin air. It will eventuly right itsef as the new houses are allocated and over the next 18 months or so things should improve.



Thistle is also right, more and more people are applying for social housing as incomes fall and private sector rents climb. The point of giving up phase 3 of the old Bouet estate to industry was because we wanted smaller estates and not repeat the same mistakes of the past of endless blocks of social housing all concentrated in one small area.

it is now coming up for a year since the figures were announced could the minister of housing please tell us how the figures stack up since june last year ..thank you

Thistle

You will have to be more specific on what figures you are asking for.

Thank you for your input MR Jones . i also think the level of income allowed to be earned in social housing should be higher
i have brought this up at many meetings but so far nothing has gone has come forward.
this need to be addressed soon as they way wages rise many more will have to move into the private sector
.
As most wages about the limit is not enough to pay a rent in the private sector
also the waiting list will get bigger as those who were in states house that had to move out because of what they earned are now at the age of retirement this means that will now be entitled to a states house again
So keep building .. but not units," homes" please .

sorry dave i meant the figures re housing waiting lists

Kat



The threshold is due to be raised shortly and we are well aware that private sector rents are rising, which is why the Housing board backed SSD’d proposals on giving income support to those in private rental. This is part of the merging of the rebate and benefit schemes.

We also appreciate that people can return to States housing when their incomes drop but in the mean time with limited resources we have to help those in most need.



Thistle



I will get the latest figures tomorrow.

thank you...

Thank you Dave i look forwards to reading the increased amount in the billets

Dave..I was there when you gave your support to SSD's proposals. Hope they can get it back asap

rolf martin,i agree the states members who voted against the proposals should be ashamed of themselves..it needs to be brought back asap with figures etc..

I read this report . and it did look good but the winners here are the greedy landlords who will make sure the rents go up high
i would like a register and all rents put onto a level .
How many states members are landlords?
i am very uncomfortable with this
yes many in the private sector need help .many pay way above what they can afford
perhaps the time has come that all were on a register with controlled rents
license all private rents .
until then it would be unfair for the sup to have to pay a rent for someone living in a high rent place
as this would make many move from a lower rent place into a bigger better place as the rent would be paid from the sup. until these problems are sorted it is a no from me .

Thistle



Our staff have not compiled the latest figures as yet but they will not have changed significantly during the first 3 months of this year.



I can tell you that at the end of the previous quarter (i.e. the end of 2011) there were 169 people on the waiting list (compared to 190 at the end of 2010)

Dave - what happens to the people who are not quite 'needy' enough nor well off enough to rent/buy houses in the private sector??? My family were in that position once and we got no help from anyone as much as we tried! There must be a lot of people out there in the same position as we were!!! How do you now cater for them?

Karma



This has been one of my concerns for a long time. I used to call them the people trapped in no mans land. Which is why we introduced through the GHA the Partial ownership /Shared equity scheme, which is directed at exactly the people you describe.



It is early days but we have 88 families and couples already in this scheme, with another 40 homes allocated to PA in the pipeline. It has proved very popular indeed and is now over subscribed in terms of numbers of people waiting for such homes under this scheme.

The other thing Housing have done because people like you got little or no help in the past, was to back fully the new SSD proposals to help people in the private rental sector, there are many working families who even with their joint incomes struggle to meet their living costs, a large part of which are their rents. In my time at housing I have supported much more help for these families and will continue to do so.

Where do you draw the line Karma. There can come a point when the 'needy' becomes too many for the rest of the community to subsidise without themselves also becoming 'needy'.

there are strict rules for being offered susidised housing kingcole..maybe you should come to guernsey and live in the private sector paying more than £1000 a month in rent and see how long it takes for you to become needy

he can't social services won't pay for him

true x360..he would need to be in open market as well x

You find me a place I would be allowed to rent and live in for £1000 per month I will be on the next boat for sure !!!