The independent company responsible for States affordable housing has submitted plans for 65 three-bedroom houses on fields 632 and 559 between St George’s School and the 20 mph zone through St Peter’s Village.
A parish assembly overwhelmingly voted in favour of the scheme – Ville du Manoir – last year and the owners of the land, independent dairy farmers Darren, Julia and Chas Quénault, of Classic Farm, are also backing the development.
‘We want to keep farming and this will help to secure the long-term viability of the farm,’ Mrs Quénault said. ‘And it will mean that 65 families from the parish will have their own homes.’
The houses will be allocated to prospective buyers with parish connections whose names are on a waiting list.
Should the properties be sold on, the same restrictions on who can buy them, and a price limit, will apply through Andium’s ‘Homebuy’ deferred-payment scheme.
‘Andium Homebuy allows us to sell homes with a deferred-payment bond, keeping them affordable for those who can’t necessarily afford to purchase a family home on the open market,’ the housing company’s head of business development, Carl Mavity, said.
‘We will be able to use this mechanism at Ville du Manoir, with the deferred-payment bond established in perpetuity, ensuring the homes are always sold at prices which are 25 per cent below their market value.’
The parish came up with the initial idea for the development because of an increasing demand for first-time-buyer homes. More than 200 parishioners attended a parish assembly in March 2016 to vote overwhelmingly in favour of the proposal.
‘Doing something to meet the home ownership aspirations of young parishioners was one of my major objectives when I was re-elected Constable in 2014,’ St Peter Constable John Refault said.
‘The proposed site for the development was selected in consultation with parishioners and there has been an unprecedented level of support for the development.’
Last week St Ouen, which pioneered parish village developments in the 1970s, to be followed by other parishes, including St Peter, opened a waiting list while it looks for potential development sites for first-time-buyer homes.
There have also been recent affordable-housing schemes for first-time buyers in Trinity and St Clement. St Martin’s Housing Association, which had its plans for first-time-buyer homes rejected in March, has this week submitted revised proposals.
