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The UK's Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has said he looks at some of Jersey's tax policies "with envy"... and suggested the UK could learn from the island.
Michael Gove was one of the delegates who attended the 39th meeting of the British-Irish Council, which was held in Jersey on Friday at the L’Horizon hotel in St. Brelade.
This year's summit had a focus on housing, energy efficiency in building, retrofitting, future skills, modern methods of construction and innovation.
Like Jersey, the UK has also been looking to tackle the matter of empty homes – with the Levelling Up Secretary having previously vowed to end the "scourge" of empty properties, in part by charging higher council tax on them.
Express asked Mr Gove if he thought taxation was an effective method Jersey should adopt to address the issue of empty homes, which is currently a major focus of Housing Minister David Warr.
.@MichaelGove at the 39th @BICSecretariat Summit, hosted by @GovJersey.
— Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (@luhc) June 16, 2023
The #LevellingUp Secretary took part in discussions which also focused on housing and sustainability, green skills and economic development. pic.twitter.com/1I3T8Uu5F4
Mr Gove said: "I often look with envy at some of Jersey's tax policies and I suspect it is probably the case that we should learn more from Jersey than Jersey learning from us.
"But on the specific issue on how you deal with vacant properties and also second or holiday homes as well, there is always a balance to be struck. You need to have a variety of types of tenure and it will be the case that different types of properties will be vacant for natural market churn."
He continued: "Sometimes you do need to use tax or other measures to make sure you have the right mix to keep the community viable."
Pictured: Chief Minister Kristina Moore at the British-Irish Council event. (James Jeune)
Other visiting politicians included the leaders of the Irish, Scottish and Welsh Governments, as well as the Crown Dependencies.
The group arrived on Thursday and in the evening received a presentation from Jersey's Youth Parliament.
Ahead of the main meetings on Friday, the delegation visited Andium Homes' affordable homes development at The Limes on Green Street to observe the 'modern methods of construction' being used.
Today the Minister for External Relations showcased modern methods of construction to BIC Members, saying: "I am pleased that Jersey can showcase how we are using modern methods of construction and how we can learn from other BIC Members." @Govgg @MarkDrakeford pic.twitter.com/ACb9YibKih
— Ministry of External Relations Jersey (@GlobalJerseyCI) June 16, 2023
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