Subdividing 'could mend island housing shortage'
BBCA Guernsey architect says subdivision could provide quick relief for the island's housing shortage by making the best use of existing properties.
Jason Hobbs's firm has dealt with almost a dozen subdivision applications in the last 18 months, which he said delivered housing units quickly and cost-effectively.
He would like to see the island's large vacant and redundant properties, including properties owned by the States, put forward for developers to subdivide.
Deputy Neil Inder, President of the Development & Planning Authority, said subdivision played a part in providing "much needed homes" in the island.
In 2025, 183 units of the island's domestic property stock were considered vacant, of which 96.7% was private housing.
"There is no reason why these properties can't be given out to developers," said Hobbs.
"Let's concentrate on subdivision, let's use what we've got - because we can get on with it right now."
He added that generally, most properties are able to be subdivided with their existing utilities, and - as there are limited changes to building facades - presented less of a planning permission hurdle.
"We can achieve this, and get these back on the market, a whole lot quicker than developers can develop [vacant] sites," Hobbs said.
The States Strategic Housing Indicator in 2024 assessed that 1,488 additional units of accommodation would need to be created by 2028 to meet growing requirements - about 370 per year.
In 2025, 127 new units were created, but 65 units were removed - leaving a net increase of just 62 units.
Toby Whelton is a senior researcher at the Intergenerational Foundation, a UK think-tank focused on issues affecting younger generations.
He said subdivision could help address the imbalance of housing across generations.
"The amount of properties that are under occupied, in particular by older generations, has increased steadily over the last decade," he said.
He added that one of the main barriers for older people considering downsizing was the prospect of leaving their local community, which subdividing could circumnavigate.
"They can still live where they have for their whole life, but they can free up some of their housing wealth," he said.
"Lower bills, lower maintenance cost, [and] in doing so create a new dwelling that a young family could rent."
Deputy David Goy said subdivision of existing properties only offered a temporary solution to the housing crisis.
"If you think about it – there's only so much subdivision you can do," he said.
"What you don't want to do is end up like the 1800s in London where you have small families crammed into a single room."
He would like to see a monthly levy introduced to prevent people from using vacant properties as "wealth storage", in a bid to return properties to Guernsey's housing stock.
"These empty properties are bought by very wealthy people, they use them as holiday homes... they use them as wealth storage," said Goy.
"This is a very small island; we cannot afford for people to have... this kind of usage of our properties."
Inder said: "We've also been highlighting the fact that islanders can benefit from planning policies to build extensions and wings to house elderly parents or grown-up children.
"Building new homes on a large scale takes a lot of time, but building an extension or wing, or subdividing a property can be much quicker, making an efficient use of our limited space."
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