12 March 2014
The latest Jersey Housing Affordability Report covers the period between 2002 and 2013 and presents various indicators which are used to measure housing affordability in Jersey.
The Jersey Housing Affordability Index (JHAI) is the headline indicator of whether a working household with average (mean) income is able to purchase a median priced property affordably.
The latest report shows that:
- in 2013 housing affordability in Jersey worsened marginally compared to 2011 and 2012 due to increases in the overall median dwelling price and mean mortgage interest rate
- in 2013 a working household with average income was able to service a mortgage affordably on the purchase price of a median price 2 bedroom house for the first time since at least 2002
- a working household with mean net income was able to service a mortgage affordably on the purchase price of a median priced 1 bedroom flat throughout the period 2002 to 2013
- a working household with mean net income was able to service a mortgage affordably on the purchase price of a median priced 2 bedroom flat for most of the past 10 years, but not in 2006 or 2008
- in order to purchase a median priced 3 bedroom house in 2013, a household with mean net income would have needed an additional deposit of £78,000; in order to purchase a 4 bedroom house, an additional deposit of more than £280,000 would be needed
The Jersey Housing Affordability Report also covers:
- mortgage and rental stress (30 / 40 method) – the proportion of lower-income families that spend more than 30% of their income on housing costs
- ratio analysis - the ratio of property prices compared to household or individual income
- key worker analysis - the ability of individual key workers (nurse, police officer and teacher) to purchase lower-priced property and rent average priced property in the private sector
Download Jersey Housing Affordability Report 2013 (size 177kb)
gov.je