Jersey Homes Trust chairman Michael Van Neste said there are currently 119 families “in critical, severe need” of homes. “They have been through the whole process and are just waiting,” he said.
The Trust will be the developer of the project – which will see the construction of 35 three-bedroom homes to begin immediately on the site of the former Beauvoir Nurseries in Rue à Don. The Trust will rent out 29 of the homes as social housing and sell the remaining six to families meeting the requirements for social housing.
The need is so severe for affordable homes that Mr Van Neste said the Trust feels “quite daunted”.
“This is just a small contribution toward meeting it,” he said.
With 740 homes under management, the Jersey Homes Trust is the second largest provider of social rented housing in Jersey.
Existing greenhouses will be demolished to make way for the estate which will include communal gardens, landscaping and parking. An area on the site which will not be used will be returned to agricultural land and charging for electrical vehicles will be onsite.
“I think this is an excellent scheme,” Mr Van Neste said. “To get schemes like this is not easy. Everyone involved should be congratulated on bringing this scheme forward.
While all five Planning Applications Committee members voted in favour of the project overall, they were divided over the issue of whether the financial backers of the project should be required to pay toward the Eastern Cycle Route.
Developers are normally required to pay £1,000 per unit toward the cycle path or they can apportion land for use of the cycle route.
However, as the development was providing “much needed” social housing rather than being developed for profit, Director of Development Control Peter Le Gresley said this possible £35,000 contribution fell outside the existing financial arrangements and rather a tract of land was being provided.
A provision for £7,500 to fun a new bus shelter for the area was also included.
However, this proved a sticking point for Deputies Graham Truscott, Richard Rondel and Russell Labey.
Speaking in favour of the project, architect Rob Williams said the financial backers did not want to project to fall down over the contribution to the cycle path and were prepared to pay the £35,000 less the cost of the land which had already been allocated, amounting to £26,900.
While Planning Committee chair St Mary Constable Juliette Gallichan and Trinity Constable Philip Le Sueur voted to accept the plans without the financial contribution for the cycle path, Deputies Truscott, Rondel and Labey insisted that the payment of the £26,900 be added to the Planning obligations.
Delighted with the decision, Mr Van Neste told Bailiwick Express: “This is a win-win story in a sense: the Jersey Homes Trust is happy, we are in a lot of housing need at the moment and this also helps keep Island rents down. This type of accommodation is very much needed.”
