The last few days have seen reports across the Guernsey media raising concerns about both the shortage of rental properties and the long waiting lists for affordable housing.
Local mortgage broker SPF Private Clients agrees that there is some cause for concern on housing stock availability – not just in rentals and part ownership, but across the board.
Pierre Blampied, Managing Director at SPF Private Clients commented: “Although Guernsey has sat outside of much of the impact of Covid 19, we did experience a lockdown, periods of working from home and of course, no holidays. This has focused our attention on the home environment more than ever before and that has no doubt contributed to a fast-moving market where supply is lagging behind demand. This is not just in rental but in local and open market sales too.
“January usually sees more houses come on to the market but this year is definitely off to a slow start in that respect.
“We all know that when it comes to the property market, there are few scenarios where prices are right for buyers and sellers and supply matches demand, and of course we have a limited amount of space, so we do need to address that in the long term. However, one area where we are fortunate, is in having a swift and responsive mortgage industry. In Guernsey, and with brokers in particular, the personal aspect to the mortgage process means that approval is not just down to box ticking and this has a huge impact on the speed and number of applications that get approved.”
“There is a lack of stock in both sales and rental sectors, but there is no reason to suspect that this will not settle over time. In the meantime, the advice is to get a decision in principle of how much you can borrow so that you are ready to act, but remember that whatever the the twists and turns of the market, we have a local mortgage industry that can keep pace”.
