--- title: "Jersey construction sector warns of slowdown amid regulatory burden" url: https://www.nsfw.info/jersey-construction-slowdown-regulatory-burden-warning/ published: 2026-10-29T09:00:49+00:00 modified: 2026-10-29T09:00:49+00:00 author: "Chief Editor" categories: ["Business"] image: https://www.nsfw.info/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/jersey-construction-slowdown-regulatory-burden-warning-1024x572.webp summary: "The Jersey Construction Council has warned of a significant construction slowdown and called for proportionate regulation to restore investor confidence and boo" publisher: NSFW (https://www.nsfw.info) --- # Jersey construction sector warns of slowdown amid regulatory burden **In brief:** The Jersey Construction Council has warned that the island’s construction sector is experiencing a significant slowdown, and has called on the government to introduce proportionate, predictable regulation to restore confidence and encourage investment. The warning follows comments by Economic Development Minister Gerald Voisin, who told a Scrutiny panel that so little building had taken place this year that the industry body had not handed out the majority of its annual awards. ## An Industry Sounding the Alarm When an industry stops giving out its own awards because there is simply not enough work to recognise, you know something has gone wrong. That is precisely the situation the Jersey Construction Council described this week, as it urged ministers and businesses to work more closely together to “build a stronger pipeline of projects”. “Jersey has a capable construction industry with the skills to deliver,” the Council said, a statement that reads less like a boast and more like a plea to be given the chance to prove it. The Council’s statement was prompted in part by remarks made at a Scrutiny panel hearing by Economic Development Minister Gerald Voisin, who painted a stark picture of the current state of play. Deputy Voisin told the panel that he was “not aware of any construction of homes or flats going on in St Helier at the moment.” That claim raised eyebrows, given that a major development is under way at the former Ann Street brewery site, which is set to deliver hundreds of new homes, according to the Jersey Evening Post. ## Regulation Piling on Regulation Deputy Voisin did not shy away from identifying what he sees as the root of the problem. He argued that “the cumulative impact of regulation on regulation on regulation” gets in the way of business, pointing specifically to a recent increase in stamp duty and larger minimum sizes for housing as examples of measures that, individually defensible, collectively make development harder to justify financially. The Construction Council echoed that analysis with measured but pointed language. “Regulation has an important role in maintaining standards,” it acknowledged, “but we also need to consider its cumulative impact on cost, investment and project viability.” The aim, it said, should be “proportionate, predictable regulation that supports good-quality development while allowing the industry to remain competitive.” That is not a call to tear up the rulebook. It is a call to stop adding pages to it without checking whether the existing ones are working. ## The Minimum Size Question One concrete area where change may be coming is the minimum size requirements for new homes. Under current standards, a one-bedroom flat for one person in Jersey must be at least 43 square metres, with the minimum rising as bedrooms and occupants are added. A review of residential standards, currently under way, is asking whether those thresholds should be reduced and whether new categories of housing, such as “co-living” arrangements, should be permitted. The Construction Council welcomed this review as “a positive opportunity to consider greater flexibility and help support the delivery of a broader range of homes.” It is worth noting that the review was already under way before this week’s exchange, suggesting that at least some within government had already identified the issue, even if the pace of action has not yet satisfied the industry. For Jersey residents, the practical stakes are straightforward. Fewer homes being built means continued pressure on rents and house prices. A construction sector that is idle is also one that sheds skilled workers, and those workers do not always come back when conditions improve. ## The NSFW Perspective There is something almost poetic about a government that increases stamp duty and mandates larger minimum flat sizes, and then expresses surprise that nobody is building anything. Deputy Voisin deserves credit for saying the quiet part out loud at the Scrutiny hearing, even if his apparent unawareness of a major development on his own doorstep in St Helier gave commentators a gift they were unlikely to leave unopened. The Construction Council’s response was admirably diplomatic. “Proportionate, predictable regulation” is the kind of phrase that sounds obvious until you look at the track record. Jersey’s construction industry is not asking for a free-for-all. It is asking for a stable environment in which it can plan, invest and build. That seems like a reasonable request, and one the government would do well to treat as urgent rather than aspirational. *Source: [Jersey Evening Post](https://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2026/10/29/sensible-regulation-needed-to-fight-construction-slowdown)*