Facts, Not Fiction

GHA is not a States department, we’re not an Andium Homes (which is an arms-length management organisation for the States of Jersey, with Jersey government as the shareholder), and we’re not a States of Guernsey trading entity. We are an independent housing association, with charitable aims and objectives. We are essentially a social landlord with a development programme, helping to meet the island’s housing need.  Other housing associations with a presence in Guernsey include Housing 21 and Sarnia Housing Association. Like them, we have a fully independent Board of volunteer Non-Executive Directors, who set our strategic direction and are responsible for key decision making which affects our business. The States is not a shareholder.  

It's worth noting though that as well as our Board approving any proposed development scheme, we also have to secure the approval of two States of Guernsey Committees to approve the grant funded element. That won’t change with the new proposed Housing Committee Structure, and fitting items into two different committee programmes takes time. 

This is a common but wrong assumption. Our charitable aims and objectives position us to look after new and existing tenants – we are here to help meet housing need. We have had to lift constraints on sites purchased post-covid so that they could be built on and try to bring forward smaller sites in the meantime. 

At the same time, we have had to spend the last couple of years refocusing our organisation to being a housing association and all the services that involves, rather than just focus on one service. Tenants’ rent money pays for everything we do. This means investment in existing homes, as well as repaying borrowing needed to provide new ones.  

From both a financial and ethical standpoint, and as an asset-backed business, we need to look after what we have and cannot allow existing homes to fall into disrepair. We have found that in some of our older homes, investment is needed – we can’t and won’t ignore existing homes and tenants to focus exclusively on new. After all, why should existing tenants, who pay their rent, see all that rent going towards provision of new homes when their own homes need investment?  

We know there needs to be a balance – and we also know that balance doesn’t stop you from doing both. That’s not an aversion to risk – we don’t build and walk away, we are a landlord, so we understand and manage the risks of owning and managing homes for the long-term, as well as delivering new ones.  

We’re mindful of value for money, particularly where subsidy to provide new affordable homes is concerned, and the need to make sure that taxpayer money, in this case, Affordable Housing Capital Grant, is spent carefully, properly and well. We have spent quite a lot of time over the last couple of years overhauling the way we assess the suitability of sites for provision of new homes, adopting a more commercial approach based on residual land value and robust viability assessments before any land purchase is made, making sure that due diligence on sites is done upfront, before any purchase. Some sites will never work financially for social housing, some will be marginal and some will work well – the costs need to work for our business plan and for the States capital grant pot.  

Again, we’re not a construction company, so we don’t build, we contract others to do that bit, and we’re on site currently with Oberlands (in partnership with Infinity Construction for fifteen new homes for key workers opposite the hospital), and at La Vieille Plage (14 specialist homes for adults with a learning disability contracted to JW Rihoy). 

Like every other organisation, we need to understand and manage risk. Sites purchased on behalf of GHA in 2022 with Affordable Housing Capital Grant, and which are now in our legal ownership – Duval Vinery, Kenilworth Vinery, and Data Park (Saltpans) – all had significant constraints which hadn’t been factored into build out times – or deliverability. We have been working hard to resolve those constraints to bring those sites forward or look for alternative schemes. That doesn’t mean we are ‘risk averse’ – we are just trying to deal with some legacy constraints, while bringing forward other sites where we can. 

With regard to Duval Vinery, we have explained already through our Island Development Plan review submission and various items in the media, that we will not be providing new social rented homes next to a sewage emptying point.  

For Parc Le Lacheur/Kenilworth, we have worked with States of Guernsey to mitigate the 1-in-100 year flood risk on the site – the States are investing in enabling flood defence works to protect The Bridge area, and that will also protect Parc Le Lacheur/Kenilworth and other nearby sites that are being considered for new homes. Once we know the enabling works have been tendered, we will start designing the site, using Placeshapers principles – we want to create well designed homes and neighbourhoods that provide a positive legacy. 

Data Park (Saltpans) was purchased at risk knowing that it was not zoned for housing, but could be through the IDP Review, or strategic enabling work. That process is underway now – but it needs to be zoned for housing for us to do anything there. It needs the same thoughtful design as Parc Le Lacheur will have. 

We’ve redesigned the CI Tyres site following lots of feedback and the need to maximise density of the site for as many new, smaller homes as possible to meet housing need – but this still needs to go through a grant approval then planning process. 

And finally, Braye Lodge isn’t owned by us and the owners are making use of the site to meet their organisation’s needs – it’s their site to do what they want with – same goes for Pointues Rocques. We can enter into commercial negotiations, but sometimes things just don’t work out – whether it’s the price of the site or timing.  

In the meantime, we’re working with developers to identify more, smaller sites for joint ventures, making best use of their skills for site searches and viability assessments. It’s what they do best, and we benefit from their skills and experience. 

Our board of volunteer Non-Executive Directors, and all our employees, live in Guernsey. We sometimes get mistaken phone calls from tenants of Glasgow Housing Association, we’re assuming that will be the initials, but we are firmly based in and only provide services in Guernsey.  

We are a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee and our governing documents, which are lodged with the Guernsey Registry, set this out very clearly. We have charitable aims and objectives and any surplus we make must be re-invested into the homes we own and manage – we are not allowed to distribute any surplus, and we don’toperate a bonus system.  

Since 2018, GHA and the States of Guernsey Housing Service (often referred to as “States Housing”) have operated a joint waiting list for applicants to the social rental scheme. This is usually called the “Single Gateway” to social rental housing and sets a single allocation and eligibility policy that both the GHA and States Housing adhere to.  

The allocation to GHA properties follows the same policy and procedures as States Housing. 

Full details of this policy can be found on: https://www.gha.gg/am-i-eligible  

We operate in a wider economic context that we do not control. Factors such as interest rates, inflation, the availability and cost of labour and materials and global supply chain disruptions all affect the cost and speed of construction. These factors also impact property prices and rents across the board.  

Guernsey’s housing affordability challenges are part of broader trends seen in small island economies and are shaped by external pressures as well as local demand. Our role is to provide affordable housing for those who are unable to rent or buy in the private market – and we must do that with the same economic pressures and constraints as commercial developers. 

It’s not in our interest to restrict supply – we want people to have a decent home that they can afford – that’s all covered by our charitable aims and objectives. 

As a not-for-profit, we have to carefully manage our finances to remain sustainable. Like any responsible organisation, we cannot take on unlimited or unsustainable debt. Borrowing is balanced against rental income, maintenance costs and other operational commitments. Building homes is expensive and capital-intensive and so we always must strike a balance between building new homes and maintaining existing ones, particularly when our rents must remain below private market levels and are our only income stream.