Calls for more government help for housing market

A Jersey estate agent says the government needs to do more to support the housing market.

Gill Hunt, the president of the Jersey Estate Agents' Association, said "a stamp duty holiday" would get the market moving - a proposal that was rejected by the States in November.

At the time, Deputy Philip Ozouf, who proposed the amendment, said it was a "targeted, timely and temporary intervention" and would "get the housing market moving again because housing transactions are at a historic low".

Ms Hunt's comments came after it was revealed in a report that house prices dropped by 8% in 2024, the largest yearly decline since at least 1986.

Next year, mortgage tax relief will come to an end - meaning home owners will pay more tax than before.

Ms Hunt added: "That's where our government does have the power. They don't have the power of the interest rates to move those up and down."

The latest House Price Index revealed that 712 properties were sold in 2024, a 16% decrease from 843 in 2023.

Ms Hunt said: "In 2023 and 2024 we saw about 50% fewer properties going through."

"There are over 1,700 properties on the market and almost half are priced up to £700,000."

The Bank of England lowered interest rates to 4.5% at the beginning of February and Gary Tumelty of The Mortgage Shop said one bank had reduced its rates last week.

He said he was hoping others would follow.

"Jersey has historically had higher rates than the UK, but that gap is beginning to close," he added.

"More action from banks would encourage more buyers."

From the 2026 year of assessment, Jersey's government will no longer offer tax relief on homeowner mortgages - in line with a States Assembly decision made a decade ago to phase it out.

The treasury minister, Deputy Elaine Millar, said additional support for first-time buyers would compensate for its removal.

Mortgage interest relief will continue to be available on buy-to-let investments.

The housing minister, Deputy Sam Mezec told the BBC a consultation would begin "in the next few months" on whether it should also be removed in relation to these type of property purchases.

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