Guernsey housing licence numbers fall by 8%

The number of active housing licences in Guernsey fell by nearly 8% in a year, according to figures from the Policy Council.

There were 4,858 live licences at the end of March 2012, 413 (7.8%) fewer licences than a year earlier.

At the same time the population, which is expected to rise to 70,000 by 2040, was slightly up on the year before at 63,085.

The majority of the growth was due to a natural increase of 127 people.

This was caused by more births than deaths during the 12 months.

It was also caused by 43 more people coming to live in the island, which is the balance of those who emigrated and immigrated in the period.