Parish-owned St Helier House on Westmount Road has recently been put on the market for residential or commercial development – despite parishioners voting overwhelmingly in 2021 for the parish to sell the site to Andium Homes for £2.9 million for development into housing and a new building for Westmount Day Nursery.
After several years of indecision about the future of the site, whose elderly residents moved out for safety reasons following the Grenfell tragedy in 2017, the next step after that vote would have seen Andium – the island’s social housing provider – put forward detailed drawings and proposals.
But the same property has this month popped up for sale by tender with Quérée Property Consultants.
Andium has told Express that they “remain interested in the site” – despite it now being on the open market – but that negotiations “on this site at the time did not result in a viable option”.
Meanwhile, Constable of St Helier Simon Crowcroft said that “for whatever reason, Andium did not progress the work”.
The storied history of St Helier House
Pictured: The building has been vacant since late 2017.
Formerly a care home, the seven-storey property on Westmount Road and next to People’s Park, has been vacant since 2017 when its 44 elderly residents were rehoused after a series of fire safety issues emerged in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy.
Built in 1963, the home was found to have combustible cladding, contain no sprinkler system or ‘dry riser’ pipes which help fire-fighters deal with a blaze in a high rise.
To the north are the large Andium Homes residential developments of Old St John’s Court and Westmount Court.
The last of the home’s residents left in January 2018, before the Parish then asked for expressions of interest in acquiring the premises – including the Westmount Day Nursery, which had also operated out of the building for 45 years.
Tensions flared in 2019 when parishioners were asked to vote on the £2.9 million sale of the site to an anonymous developer, which was not Dandara or Andium.
St Helier Deputy Sam Mézec – before he was Housing Minister – strongly opposed the sale, expressing concerns that plans for the site would not “meet the housing needs of islanders”. While it was approved with a last-minute catch that would have seen some of the site’s increased value after development make its way back to the Parish, the sale ultimately fell through.
The Constable and Procureurs du Bien Public then asked officers to explore “alternative opportunities for the site”.
Despite having previously rejected a bid from Andium, the Parish said that “exploratory discussions” were then underway with the social housing provider with a view to delivering a “sheltered housing facility”.
In July 2020, Andium and the parish finally announced a formal partnership and new vision for the site.
In May 2021, parishioners voted 34 to one to approve a recommendation of Constable Simon Crowcroft and the Procureurs du Bien Public to allow St. Helier to consider an offer from Andium Homes for St. Helier House and Westmount Day Nursery “for a sum of no less than £2,900,000”.
The Parish stated that the proceeds of the sale would allow it to acquire homes in the new development, which would then be used as sheltered housing, and provide a new building for a Westmount Day Nursery.
A representative for the area, current Social Security Minister Lyndsay Feltham was among those keen to see the plans develop. When she ran for election in 2022, one of her pledges was to “work closely with the Parish of St. Helier and Andium Homes to ensure that the development of the St. Helier House and Westmount nursery site provides the type of housing that the community needs”.
What has happened since then?
That is not quite the end of the story, however, because the site has remained untouched.
Now that it has appeared on the market, Express asked Andium, quite simply: what happened?
Dominique Caunce, the Policy and Stakeholder Engagement Lead at Andium Homes, said: “The future of St Helier House is, of course, a matter for the Parish”.
She continued: “We remain interested in the site, along with any other opportunities to provide homes for islanders, but negotiations on this site at the time did not result in a viable option.
“We continue to engage with the Parish to ensure the best outcome for that important part of town, of which we are a key stakeholder given the number of homes we have in the area.”
Ms Caunce further emphasised the “positive relationship” between Andium and the parish and how the two bodies continue to “work closely” in relation to various projects and programmes, including efforts to regenerate the north of town.
“We are also focusing on bringing forward the Bridging Island Plan sites,” she added.
The sale brochure states that there have been no planning applications within the past five years, nor has there been any “proactive planning or architectural advice sought by the Parish of St Helier” but “it is anticipated that a change of use to residential use would be forthcoming or alternatively, the Property may be suitable for re-purposing within a commercial use class”.
It also says “preference will be given to unconditional bids received from cash purchasers with a strong track-record of completing and developing similar assets”.
“It will be up to parishioners what to do with it”
The parish’s Constable, Simon Crowcroft, said that no matter what happened, “it will be up to parishioners as to what to do with the site”.
He said that he had informed the now-Housing Minister Sam Mézec before putting it out to tender.
However, the Constable was unable to provide the reasons that work with Andium did not progress.
He said: “The deal was that we would work with Andium to try and deliver social housing, and for whatever reason, Andium did not progress it.”
Pictured: Constable Simon Crowcroft said he had made the Housing Minister aware of the sale.
Due to the sheer amount of development currently underway by Andium, the Constable said there was a chance “it simply did not fit in with their plans.”
“We did get back to them on a number of occasions, but they have a huge amount on their plate, so we’re not criticising them, but we got to the state where we felt parishioners deserve better and we don’t want properties to be empty forever,” he said.
“It may come back to social housing or something else may happen, whatever the market wants to do with it, but it will be up to parishioners.”
READ MORE…
Parishioners give green light to St Helier House negotiations (2021
Parishioners to vote on £2.9m St Helier House sale to Andium (2021)
