Historic building restored in island homes boost

Restoration work has been taking place at 12 Belmont Road in St Helier

A 19th Century four-bedroom home has been restored as part of plans to put it on the rental market in Jersey.

Receiver General Alan Blair said the townhouse at 12 Belmont Road in St Helier, which had been empty for about four years, had been bought by the Crown.

He said restoration work at the Grade 3-listed building, which dates back to the 1820s or 1830s, had taken place and home would be put up for rent.

Mr Blair said the aim was to have a family move to help with the shortage of homes available on the island, with the property set to be available from 1 August.

The Crown said the home, which is about 2,400sq ft (222.96sqm) in size, had four bathrooms and three reception rooms, along with a kitchen, utility room and private patio courtyard.

Receiver General Alan Blair said the plan is to let the home to a family

The property was last used as a pop-up second-hand furniture shop and its rental price has not been decided.

Mr Blair said: "This is what we want and what Jersey needs as there is a shortage of family homes.

"We want to do our bit to help."

Mr Blair said anyone who was interested in being a tenant should contact him.

'Housing crisis'

The Government of Jersey said it had been looking at ways of getting people on the property ladder, including providing £10m to the First Step help-to-buy scheme.

Within the project, the government said it would contribute up to 40% towards the purchase of an open market property.

Those already on the Assisted Purchase Pathway have been invited to apply for the scheme and buyers will need to provide a 5% deposit towards the purchase.

In April, Housing Minister Sam Mézec scrapped the Empty Homes Service, which was launched by his predecessor David Warr to identify properties not being used.

Mr Warr had launched the project in 2023 in a bid to "tackle Jersey's housing crisis".

Mr Mézec told a scrutiny panel that, while more than 250 homes had been identified by the service, there was no way of forcing people to use them to house someone.