Housing Law

The Housing Regulations set out various methods of qualifying to purchase or lease property in the Island. 

Qualifying through a Period of Residence

The vast majority of people, 85% of the Island's total population, gain their qualifications through a period of residence. While a variety of detailed provisions exist, for example in relation to spouses and people who arrive in the Island as minors, the most common route to securing residential qualifications is an aggregated period of 10 years residence for persons born locally, or 12 years continuous residence for someone born outside the Island.

Sufficient evidence of residence must be presented to be granted qualifications; in the case of locally born individuals this will often be in the form of confirmation from the school, and in the case of non-locally born must include proof of place of residence and / or employment, ideally with evidence of a Social Security record also, for the whole of the 12 year period.

Non-locally born persons, with the exception of those with qualified parents who arrived prior to their 20th birthday, must also be aware that under current policy, qualifications once gained will nevertheless be lost for anything more than a single five year gap in residence.

More detail on the different requirements for qualifying can be found in the 'Fast Find' section below.  

Qualifying due to Hardship, Essential Employment, or on the grounds of Economic or Social Benefit

In addition to qualifying through a period of residence, a minority of people qualify under Regulations 1(1)(g), 1(1)(j) and 1(1)(k). These relate to those classes of persons to whom the Housing Minister may consider granting a consent where it is considered that the applicant would suffer hardship, other than financial, if consent were not granted, where a person is essential employed and no local person can be found to fill the position, or where there is a proven economic and / or social benefit to the island, usually, in the form of being a high value resident. 

The numbers qualifying via this route are small, for example, just 3% of the workforce is granted essential employee housing rights, and only a handful of people each year are granted consent due to hardship, or on economic or social grounds.