A digital register of commercial properties in the island could be created to help track vacancy rates and highlight anti-competitive practices, if States Members agree.

Deputy Helen Miles has said there are “long-standing inefficiencies and challenges in the management of Jersey’s commercial property market”.

And the St Brelade representative has lodged a proposition calling for a digital register to record to beneficial owners of such properties as well as suggesting commercial landlords should face penalties for leaving properties empty for too long.

In her proposition, she said: “Access to this information would allow the government to introduce appropriate measures, whether legal or fiscal, to prevent market abuses and distortions.”

The States agreed to create a register of ownership following a proposition from then-Deputy Mike Higgins in 2020, but it was never implemented.

In another part of her proposition, Deputy Miles aims to tackle the lack of statutory duty placed on commercial landlords to maintain and repair their properties.

“This is especially an issue for small businesses in Jersey,” she explained, urging the government to develop a system where retail tenants are afforded legal protection against unfair repair obligations.

Deputy Miles added: “Clarifying obligations for repairs and rates should serve to reduce disputes and improve property maintenance.”

Her proposition asks the government to undertake a piece of work to understand what mechanisms should be available to tackle empty commercial properties – possibly through incentives or taxes – and report back with options by March 2026.

“These issues, if left unchecked, will likely have an increasingly negative impact on our economy and the vibrancy of many parts of the island, and indeed will continue to disproportionately affect small businesses,” she said.

“By discouraging prolonged vacancies in commercial properties, reviewing lease structures to ensure they are fair and more easily understood, and introducing a digital register of commercial properties, the Island can unlock economic potential, support local businesses (in particular small businesses) and improve transparency.”

She added that the issue is “especially acute” in St Brelade, but that it can “easily spread to other parts of the Island”.

The proposition is due to be debated during the States sitting beginning on Tuesday 30 September.