Housing and Communities Board response to housing needs assessment

[Moghrey Mie]

Glacial movement

https://www.tynwald.org.im/spfile?file=/business/opqp/sittings/20212026/2024-GD-0134.pdf

 

[Banker]

2 hours ago, Moghrey Mie said:

Glacial movement

https://www.tynwald.org.im/spfile?file=/business/opqp/sittings/20212026/2024-GD-0134.pdf

 

What is needed is a massive push for new social housing around the island but particularly in the eastern region, none built for 3 years is unacceptable.

[Fred the shred]

There are so many Government owned brownfield sites that could be used.   Everyone is talking the talk but none walking the walk, so frustrating.    

[english zloty]

Depressing reading (load of crappy stats). "Good news" UPTO 1000 by 2035. Hilarious 🤣

[Moghrey Mie]

I get the feeling they are playing for time until a Housing Association takes over.

It will all be wonderful 'going forward'.

[Passing Time]

The number of youngsters currently "sofa surfing" is totally unacceptable in this day and age. Government continue to kick the can down the road. 

[Mercenary]

The report feels quite managed economy, and policy wonks trying to influence supply without affecting house prices.

Quote

• what the difference is in terms of future oversupply/shortage

• what this will cost our communities in terms of wellbeing

• what this will cost our communities in terms of the public purse

Quote

...and be prepared to take mitigating action where appropriate if population growth does not keep up with development plans. Failure to do so could result in undermining the construction industry, reducing house prices and impacting upon the island’s economy.

 Is reducing house prices really such a bad thing? 

Quote

There is no quick fix to alleviating pressure on suitable housing availability and affordability...

Surely increasing supply is the main answer to both of these? The housing 'crisis' is demand outmatching supply. To increase supply means reducing planning restrictions and landlord requirements. The new requirements of heat pumps and other areas of the building codes will have an impact on prices, and work permits also has a potentially significant impact. The other alternative is large government capital investment, but there seems little appetite for this and it would be very unlikely to have much impact on most of the housing market. 

 

Note I'm not recommending all the above, these are just the credible options for addressing the 'housing crisis'.  The report does not set out any credible measures it has influence over that would be capable of moving the needle. 

 

The report is also very dismissive of the private rental sector (and doesn't analyse the factors involved with private sector rentals), which is equally important to particularly low and middle income families as social housing. Contrast it to this:

Quote

Ageing public sector housing stock being returned to social landlords upon the death of elderly or long term tenants, is resulting in significant financial costs. This is impacting upon the ability to return these properties back to the rental market. Consequently, there are current relatively high levels of public sector properties unable to be let due to repair requirements. This is existing stock which is not being utilised. When asked at the beginning of August 2024 about the number of properties held due to disrepair, and the cost to bring these properties back into use; one Local Authority (“LA”) estimated that £477,000 was required to bring 44 empty properties back into circulation.

Would private landlords be leaving their properties empty for potentially significant amounts of time? 

 

https://community.im/taxpayersalliance/2022/10/10/new-data-reveals-collapse-in-manx-housing-construction/ (from 2 years ago)

[Banker]

Nurses home redevelopment looks really good from initial photos as shown on Rob Callister Facebook if anyone interested, April 2025 to final completion date and handover I think.

[joebean]

On 11/28/2024 at 4:07 PM, Banker said:

What is needed is a massive push for new social housing around the island but particularly in the eastern region, none built for 3 years is unacceptable.

Not necessarily Government owned and funded though. Government should work collaboratively to encourage the formulation of Housing Associations with attractive options to raise capital to build on existing brownfield sites in public ownership. 

[Dog Catcher Of St Judes]

I'm not convinced local authorities will buy the housing association idea

[Moghrey Mie]

2 minutes ago, Dog Catcher Of St Judes said:

I'm not convinced local authorities will buy the housing association idea

I think they are only planning it for the Government owned (DLGE) houses not all local authorities.

Edited November 29 by Moghrey Mie

[cissolt]

There are plenty of quick fix temporary solutions to alleviate pressure (created by government inertia) to solve the housing issues.

£40k for a flat pack house, spend the £40,000,000 sitting in the climate change fund and buy 1000 of these. This eases pressure on the social and private rental market.

Also stop companies and foreign property ownership as investments and a tax on second home.

These aren't hard problems to solve, we just either lack the will or are too afraid of the lodge friends to do anything about it.

 

 

[Burns]

A commitment to build 1000 homes by 2035 is quite frankly piss poor, especially when considering the last official figures state a potential vacancy rate of 14%, some 5000 properties currently sitting empty.

Housing market report 2022

Making statements like;

  Empty Properties -
  Legislative change to address rates in respect of empty properties.
  An objective of the Built Environment Reform Programme11 is to bring vacant
  buildings and sites back into beneficial use exploring a range of interventions and
  statutory powers

Especially when the referenced Built Environment Reform Program which was due to have this very issue resolved or at least addressed property by the end 2023

Built Environment Reform Program

It also gives the most insincere nod to one  of, in my opinion, the most problematic aspects of housing on the island which is the rampant and uncontrolled private market and by extension the none existent controls or analysis of people purchasing multiple properties which which to create their own rental empires, I've only heard anecdotally that this is occurring but it should most definitely be a concern, I'd go even further to say that if it was found that a number of properties are rented and owned by external factions then a policy must be considered to restrict the sale of homes on the island to people with a direct interest in the island at the very least, and impose a housing ringfenced "second home" tax at the worst.

The whole thing reeks of hand wringing and nothingness, there's nothing of substance in there to fill anyone reading it with hope that any of the current issues are being resolved, I'd even argue that the current issues are barely even understood which, I suppose, would make them quite difficult to address.

[When Skies are Grey V2]

Fcuk Elon!!  

[Banker]

Guernsey solution includes allowing visiting workers and locals to live in temporary housing, TT village all year around?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp35kvl7r1yo