'No Simple Solution' To Addressing Empty Homes

Changes to Jersey's Parish Rates and Wills and Succession laws could be considered to help tackle the number of empty properties.

The Housing Minister has given an update on progress, six months after the Empty Homes Service was set up.

It was formed in January as part of government action to get vacant properties back into use.

Parish rate declarations sent our at the beginning of 2023 asked islanders to report if they owned empty homes.

260 were reported by the public, though that is less than a third (29%) of the total estimated 900.

Around 100 locations have been reviewed so far, and 38 of those were found to be being brought back into use.  

A similar number were found to have listed heritage status.  The Environment Minister is considering their condition and the heritage features within them to assess whether any action needs to be taken if they are not being maintained.

The Housing Minister says work is continuing to determine the reasons for properties being vacant and how best to discourage owners from leaving them empty.

Deputy David Warr maintains that a new annual tax would not work:

"The Action on Vacant Properties plan gave the view that introducing a tax on empty properties would not be effective because of the significant risk that the administrative costs could outweigh the revenue generated.

Once in place, a new tax would be a significant administrative undertaking and would require dedicated resources to complete the ongoing required compliance work such as updating or verifying third-party property valuations. There would also be a large amount of work required to make the legislative and operational changes necessary to introduce a new charge."

But he is considering other legislative changes. Among them, he is looking at how the parish rates system could be changed, to address what he perceives to be an unfairness:

"...the existing rates system evaluates rateable values based on a property’s characteristics. This means that poorly maintained ‘low value’ empty properties are more likely to pay the lowest rates."

He is also looking at how heirs can be established where someone dies without leaving their property to anyone in a will.

"Without concerted action, properties such as this will continue to remain vacant in the long-term, essentially having become stuck in a position where there is no clear or easy route to a resolution."

Deputy Warr says bringing empty homes back into use remains a priority, but there is 'no simple or single solution''.

"The Minister for Housing and Communities will make public announcements as further progress is made over the term."