OVER the course of the past 30 years, the Jersey property market has developed in ways that were never planned, with dire consequences for far too many Islanders. If the market in the 1980s was a problem child, it is now a fully fledged delinquent running out of control.

High-end luxury properties are, quite literally, in a class of their own and market forces can be relied upon to set their prices, but other sectors are, for a range of reasons, in a state of disarray. In the realm of social housing, the Housing department is unable to cope with necessary maintenance – to the obvious detriment of tenants – and in the part of the market that should be accessible to ‘ordinary’ people prices have soared out of reach for the majority of those yet to put a foot on the housing ladder.

As far as first-time buyers are concerned, there can be no going back to the States Loan system of the past. High interest rates are no longer the issue. Instead, large deposits and massive mortgage repayments are the obstacles to home ownership.

However, in spite of the manifest difficulties of devising policies designed to correct a market severely skewed by scarcity of resources – an inevitable factor in a small, self-contained community – and substantial wealth in some parts of society, new initiatives are possible.

This is being demonstrated by St John Constable Graeme Butcher, who has outlined a parish-based shared equity scheme which most certainly merits very close evaluation. As well as offering a plausible route into ownership for young people, it would also offer the advantage of ensuring the future vitality of parish communities.

But if there is one feature of Mr Butcher’s idea likely to prejudice its success, it is the idea that green field sites should not be regarded as sacrosanct. That said, he is not recommending the wholesale despoliation of the countryside and the basic principle of his scheme would be sound if applied to brown field sites.

Meanwhile, if the housing market is in a crisis that has developed so gradually that we have not noticed it creeping towards us, the Housing department is, by the admission of Assistant Housing Minister Sean Power, dysfunctional. Shortage of money and structures designed for an earlier era mean that it is incapable of looking after stock worth many millions of pounds.

One suggested solution is to follow the partial privatisation route exemplified by Jersey Electricity and Jersey Water, though such a dramatic move would require even more thorough investigation than Mr Butcher’s inventive plan for cutting the first-time buyer Gordian knot.