With average house prices at just over £600,000 and interest rates running above 4% for the past several years, it’s more difficult than ever to get on the property ladder – and that’s severely affecting Guernsey’s ability to hold onto its young people.

Islanders who have been educated in our system are leaving or unable to return, due to the cost of housing. Meanwhile, we have an ageing population and, fiscally, losing our young people just doesn’t balance the books. We need people of working age living in Guernsey, contributing their skills and tax take to the system. But this is about more than money. It’s about sustaining our culture and keeping hold of what it means to be islanders.

Let’s be clear, this isn’t about drawing lines between us. Our society needs cohesion, not division. Many young people leave and never plan to return to Guernsey, and that’s their choice. Some jobs require imported skill sets. That’s a feature of all island communities. However, we believe that no young person raised here should be prohibited from returning home, nor should they be forced to leave Guernsey because they can’t afford to stay.  

Hanging onto our young people is the only way this island can remain sustainable. That’s why our housing policy majors on achievable and measurable levers we can pull to change the landscape for first-time buyers.

We’ve created a video to outline these – please take a look and share it with anyone you think might be interested to know more. Don’t forget to ask candidates about their policies to help first-time buyers and make sure they have a clear, well researched and thought-out strategy to help them onto the housing ladder.