Future Guernsey is proposing a ‘Guernsey Property Savings Account (GPSA)’ – a tax-free savings account for first-time home buyers and renters – if its candidates win seats in the island’s next States.
The scheme would allow savings up to £60,000 for a first home purchase or rental deposit. The political organisation is also proposing a ‘welcome home’ package for skilled islanders.
It says that these measures will encourage home ownership, alleviating rental deposit burdens, and attract skilled islanders back to Guernsey to increase the working population.
The organisation added that it will help provide actionable and deliverable policy for the people of Guernsey, and with it bring a spirit of enterprise back to the island.
Future Guernsey’s Board member, Mike Leonard says this policy reflects the thinking running throughout its upcoming manifesto.
“Guernsey has a history of being a nimble jurisdiction that can adapt quickly to market forces,” he said. “We want to bring that spirit back to the fore and encourage the type of enterprising spirit we’ve always enjoyed.
“This policy is a classic example of how we would urge our politicians to be thinking about how they can work with the private sector to begin to tackle an issue that is affecting increasing numbers of islanders and potentially locking local young people out of the option to return or remain here.”
The GPSA’s would be available to anyone who does not currently own a home in Guernsey.
They would work with a participating local savings provider, with any interest earned on savings within the GPSA remaining tax-free.
When the first-time buyer is ready to purchase a property, they can withdraw the funds.
So long as those funds are put directly towards the cost of purchasing their first home, the interest earned remains tax-free too.
Future Guernsey says this will offer account holders some flexibility, as the saver can withdraw funds at any time. However, if the funds are used for any other purpose, the previously tax-free interest would become taxable.
Former Guernsey Housing Association Chief Executive, Steve Williams is a member of Future Guernsey’s housing policy working group.
“The challenges for renters and first-time buyers in particular are significant and we need to assist this portion of our population as much as we possibly can.
“Naturally, much of the housing policy we will unveil later this month will focus on how we can construct more homes, but there are also a number of fiscal levers we can pull which we believe, if actioned, would make a meaningful difference to first-time buyers. This policy is a classic example of how collaboration across policy areas can deliver very real and actionable benefits for the electorate.”
Future Guernsey was launched in 2024, headed up by Chairman John Hardie, Chief Executive Lindsey Freeman, and Political Adviser Gavin St Pier.
The organisation said it spent time during 2024 researching what the public wants and the intention is to deliver a manifesto focused on those policies.
Future Guernsey said its full manifesto will be released on Monday 24 March.
An event at the Performing Arts Centre is ticketed with information available on the Future Guernsey website HERE.
