Open Letter to Alf Cannan
| Peter Karran |
| Yn Ard Thie Bradda Road Port Erin Isle of Man IM9 6QA Telephone 07624 200552 Email peterkarran2021@gmail.com |
30th September 2024
Alf Cannan
Chief Ministers Office
Isle of Man Government
Dear Alf,
There is still time to salvage your administration from being the worst in my lifetime, though admittedly the previous one left very little as far as achievements for the majority of people on this Island. It certainly was the freedom for the few to fleece the rest of us.
However, this could easily be turned around and leave a legacy by addressing something that should have been addressed decades ago, i.e. putting the rungs on the ladder for ordinary people to be part of a property owning democracy.
We should be working towards bringing into planning ‘Use and Ownership’ by means of primary legislation. We should introduce a part equity scheme making it part of the approval basis that the primary law and qualifications are:
- The purchaser should have Isle of Man worker status to buy the property
- The purchaser does not own other residential property on the Island (or elsewhere)
- The property can’t be rented out as part of the planning of approval
Additionally, as part of a new planning order, up to 30 acres should be allocated split into some 3,4,5-acre sites to bring in restricted home planning. This would ease the present housing crisis and provide a basis for suitable property provision
The allocation of this new land purely for restricted home planning would also break the cartel that has for far too long controlled the availability and property prices by drip feeding the market.
If the previous administration can bring through both branches of Tynwald, in a day, help for a bank then truly to God we can see some speedy action to bring in primary legislation to help our citizens of the Isle of Man find suitable, affordable and decent accommodation.
By offering land owners double the agricultural rate for land, and passing on the savings to make housing more affordable for that section of the community, and using a new part equity mortgage scheme with more realistic levels as far as income to be entitled to be on it, people will move out of the first time buyers list into their own home. We need to reinstate the rungs of the ladder to help working people achieve the ownership of property in the Isle of Man
It would also help those who want to get out of local authority housing and those with broken marriages who are stuck in the private rental market watching their capital dwindle by paying exorbitant rent costs.
A healthy society is inclusive and depends upon people actually being able to afford to live here. People who actually make the money and pay the taxes should have an expectation and involvement in their own home ownership. Do not insult the people’s intelligence by claiming you are doing all these things for housing. In reality the truth, outside the dome of what we used to call Disney club better known as Tynwald, is that it’s not working. The situation needs addressing to ensure the future health and well-being of both the economy and the people of the Island before it creates a situation of even greater disparity.
I would suggest that we have a meeting to discuss the need for primary legislation and a timetable of how to deal with this most cancerous problem on the island at the present time. We need to turn the situation around to help ‘the many’ of our future citizens who are going to be the most important by bringing the next generation on to do the work to keep the economy going in the right direction so that it is not, as at present, just advantageous for the short-term interests of the few.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Karran