Housing minister is delighted to see estate razed
Wednesday 20th October 2010, 2:29PM BST.
The last phase of demolition of the Grand Bouet estate gets under way. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 1041780)
SEEING the Grand Bouet estate demolished was a dream come true for Housing minister Dave Jones.
The Guernsey Housing Association yesterday began the demolition of the last remaining properties at the old Grand Bouet Estate and Deputy Jones said that getting to that point had been a long journey.
‘I feel very emotional today. I’m so glad to see these houses finally being razed.’
He said he joined Housing 10 years ago with the sole purpose of seeing an end to such estates.
- Read the full story in the Guernsey Press. See below for subscription details.
Island Life
All about Guernsey
Ambassador of the Year 2011
History & Heritage
Visitor Information
Guernsey's government
Campaigns
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
Useful Links
Good work Dave Jones.
Report abuse
Wil
I thank you for that, however I most certainly didn’t do it on my own and there are lots of other people who need to take some of the credit for where we are today. Not least the States, who have backed without flinching the Corporate Housing Programme for the last eight years. Having said that, I have been relentless in driving it forward as I always believed from day one when I joined the States, that the decent hard working people and those on low incomes deserved at the very least to have decent housing. The Bouet stood as a monument to the failings of the States lack of a decent social housing programme for 25 years longer than it should have and now it’s finally gone we must never repeat the mistakes of the past.
There is a lot more social housing yet to come together with a massive 32million pound care for the elderly package that will give older people several more housing options other than just residential care we have the money saved and my board and I can’t wait to get on with that phase of the CHP.
Report abuse
It’s a pity the trouble-making families and individuals who made such misery for the law-abiding in the Bouet couldn’t be ploughed under with the buildings.
Instead those folk who live to make others miserable are still working their evil in the Genats and that other estate in St Martin’s.
There should be stock housing under the eye of a warden for those types if indeed they have to be housed at the tax-payer’s expense at all.
Report abuse
I see that one of the Mont Arrive ex States houses sold off privately earlier this year is now on offer with an Estate Agent for rent
2 bed unfurnished at £1,250 per month
Perhaps Housing missed a trick there?
Report abuse
Ray
These properties are sold off as incompatible stock, by that we mean they are no longer compatible with our Housing Programme and the money we generate from these one off sales is used to help fund the large new developments you can see springing up on various sites. Often the maintenance and in some cases complete refurbishment of these individual houses costs more than we are prepared to spend on stock that we can replace, by using what we get from the sales to build modern well insulated homes for the future. Private landlords can charge whatever they think they can get for these properties and remember they would have had to have spent a considerable amount of money on the house before it was fit to rent again.
The rent you quote would appear very high but with two people sharing, the rent is affordable for them at £625 a month each £156 pounds per week that to some would be considered cheap rent in Guernsey for the rental of an entire house, there are one bed roomed flats advertised for a more than that. We have not missed a trick as our mandate is to provide social housing which we are doing in conjunction with the GHA and we must put the taxpayers money where we get the best value for it.
Report abuse