Smaller South Hill planned with more first-time-buyer flats likely

Wednesday 13 July 2022

Plans to redevelop the old Planning Offices on South Hill will be resubmitted this summer, with a smaller, scaled-back version being put forward for approval.

The Jersey Development Company, which is owned by islanders, had originally proposed knocking down the empty office block and replacing it with 153 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.

However, its plans were rejected by the Planning Committee in May, over concerns about the scale and mass of the development, and the potential impact on the horizon and public views.

Rather than appeal that decision, JDC has chosen to go back to the drawing board to reduce the size of the project, meaning that fewer flats will be built.

The original plans were unveiled last April and submitted last November. 

JDC Chief Executive Officer Lee Henry said: “We are in the position of revising the plans and we are looking at submitting a revised application sometime this summer.”

Explaining why the plans had been rejected, he said: “The policy guidance referenced the natural form of the escarpment [behind the offices] and we considered that the trees formed part of that natural form, as long as we didn’t break the treeline. 

“However, the view from the committee was that the escarpment should be setting the limits and so we are adjusting it accordingly.”

Pictured: An artist's impression of the initial development.

He added: “It is a balance: the Bridging Island Plan is looking at optimising development within the existing built-up are in order to minimise the intrusions into the countryside, and there was reference made to that by one of the panel members. 

“We appreciate it is a balance and it is very subjective. The guidance doesn’t specifically tell you how many floors or units should be built, so it is very much dependent upon the architecture, the approach, and individual views.

“We hope that the revised application is approved by the end of the year.

“Obviously there will be a reduction in the number of units but we are looking to minimise that as far as possible, recognising the demands for new residential accommodation.”

Currently, the development is aiming to follow Government guidance that 15% of units – so 23 flats in this case, based on the original number – will be deemed ‘affordable’, which means that they will be sold to first-time buyers under a shared-equity scheme.

That 15% figure was confirmed by the Assembly last year, despite efforts by Reform Party leader Sam Mézec to increase it to 50%, both at South Hill and the Waterfront, where JDC plan to build 1,001 homes.

However, it is likely that it will increase under the new government. 

Pictured: The development will replace the boarded-up Planning Offices on South Hill.

This week, Treasury Minister Deputy Ian Gorst said: “I will play my part in delivering for local families. As shareholder representative, representing the public, I will ensure that current and future Jersey Development Company schemes will deliver more than the planned 15% affordable homes.

“This may, of course, impact on current projects, and might make less money available in the short term for improving other parts of our public realm, but we must be clear: it is a crisis and needs to be dealt with as a crisis.

“The message needs to go out clearly from this Assembly, as it came through clearly to us during the election campaign, our priority is affordable purchases for first-time buyers. 

“We will maximise first-time buyer properties on publicly owned land to restore hope, retain the talents and skills of young islanders and keep our community diverse and vibrant.”

For South Hill, this means that the total number of flats is coming down while the percentage of first-time-buyer homes will go up.

As well as set a percentage which must be ‘affordable’, the government guidance for the development also states that buy-to-let investors cannot purchase apartments at the initial point of sale and all units will be flying freehold, so only available to residentially qualified.

The argument of the past government against raising the 15% threshold to 50% was that it would make the scheme unviable.