{"id":287703,"date":"2025-07-24T10:47:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T10:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/287703\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T10:47:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T10:47:17","slug":"how-are-people-in-guernsey-and-jersey-managing-cost-of-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/287703\/","title":{"rendered":"How are people in Guernsey and Jersey managing cost of living?"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Fernandez<\/p>\n

BBC Guernsey political reporter<\/p>\n

\"BBCBBC<\/p>\n

Sarah Aubert says she has noticed the price of food and suncream rising recently<\/p>\n

“I have three children and it is really hard to support your family at the moment.”<\/p>\n

Jersey mother-of-three Sarah Aubert said she was sometimes skipping meals to make sure her children could eat well because of recent increases in prices.<\/p>\n

Prices are continuing to rise in Jersey at a faster rate than earlier this year, with the latest figures showing inflation was 2.6%<\/a>, while in Guernsey the rate of increase has slowed – but is higher than Jersey, at 3.9%.<\/a> <\/p>\n

According to some local economists, the disparity between the islands<\/a> is partly down to the higher costs of rental properties in Guernsey. <\/p>\n

Construction worker Luke Jackson blamed high rents in Guernsey on States relocation grants. <\/p>\n

He said: “Locals can’t compete. It’s got to the point now where we’re second-class citizens in our own island.”<\/p>\n

Last year, the States paid \u00a34,757,453<\/a> to assist staff moving to the island, compared to \u00a31,437,450 in 2018. <\/p>\n

Economist and Deputy Andy Sloan agreed with Luke that relocation grants had led to a steep increase in rental prices locally. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Luke blamed the recent jump in rental prices on relocation grants from the States<\/p>\n

In Guernsey, stats from the States showed average local market rents<\/a> were \u00a32,068 a month in the first quarter of 2025 – 1.5% higher than the previous quarter; 8.2% higher than the first quarter of 2024 and 51.7% higher than five years ago.<\/p>\n

In Jersey, rents have remained stable for the last six months, with the average price of a one-bedroom house \u00a31,300 per month, according to the States of Jersey. <\/p>\n

Food inflation<\/p>\n

In Jersey, one of the big drivers of the island’s inflation rate is the rate at which the price of food has increased in recent months – 4.1% between the end of March and June. <\/p>\n

In Guernsey, food has not been singled out as one of the big drivers behind prices increasing, that is housing costs and tobacco, but the price of food has increased by 3.9% in the last three months. <\/p>\n

Sarah Aubert said: “Suncream in the shops is so expensive; fillings for sandwiches, like pack lunch stuff, it’s even like snack bars, and cereal, I would say too it is really expensive<\/p>\n

“So it is really hard, but we try and just balance it out now and just take away things that you know we used to have as luxuries.”<\/p>\n

For new mother Chantelle Bearder in Guernsey, it is a similar balancing act.<\/p>\n

\"Chantelle<\/p>\n

Mother-of-one Chantelle Bearder has changed her shopping habits because of increasing prices<\/p>\n

She said she had taken time off to look after her daughter, which meant her husband was the sole income. <\/p>\n

She said: “Obviously I’m out of work at the moment, looking after my little one, because work versus childcare is the balance. <\/p>\n

“There is a lot more to balance when you are living off one wage. There is a lot more I’m having think about, like what is affordable to buy versus what is then also going in the bin.”<\/p>\n

The BBC contacted the States of Guernsey on Tuesday 22 July to ask what it was doing to assist people with the cost of living crisis locally. <\/p>\n

So far, there has been no response. <\/p>\n

In Jersey, Minister for Social Security, Deputy Lyndsay Feltham said she appreciated the impact the cost of living was having on families. <\/p>\n

To support people with the cost of living crisis, Feltham said the States was “transitioning towards a living wage, with the first step made in April when the minimum wage increased to \u00a313”. <\/p>\n

She added: “There is also help available through income support, with rates increasing by 8.6% in 2024 and again by 4% this January.”<\/p>\n

\"Nausheena<\/p>\n

Nausheena Nackwa’s family have noticed the oncreasing price of groceries compared to their native South Africa<\/p>\n

Every Tuesday, Bright Beginnings Children Centre in St Sampson’s hosts a free stay-and-play session for parents at a loose end as to what to do with their little ones. <\/p>\n

New mother Nausheena Nackwa was there with her six-month-old daughter. <\/p>\n

She said: “We have only been here for two years, but we’ve seen a noticeable increase in prices. <\/p>\n

“The price of food has increased, and daycare costs too, which is serious for us as we do not have a support system over here, so we will have to rely on daycare. <\/p>\n

“Then, of course, there is the actual housing situation – that is the other real big cost that really gets us.”<\/p>\n

\"Sheikh<\/p>\n

On Guernsey’s High Street, the cost of housing came up as one of the biggest concerns for people living on the island<\/p>\n

Hospitality worker Sheikh Sakib, who recently had his first child in Guernsey, said: “The rental costs are bad here.”<\/p>\n

On Guernsey’s High Street, he said his biggest overhead every month was his rent.<\/p>\n

He said: “The grocery costs is getting increasing, as well as rent, but the biggest expense is always rent.<\/p>\n

“I have seen some of the places in London cheaper than here. Especially when I went to Edinburgh: I found a three-bedroom flat in the city centre, \u00a31,200<\/p>\n

“Outside of the city is \u00a3700 or \u00a3900. <\/p>\n

“But, in Guernsey, you can see for a two-bedroom flat it needs to be at least \u00a32,000, plus the bills and other things.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Fernandez BBC Guernsey political reporter BBC Sarah Aubert says she has noticed the price of food and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3090],"tags":[51,1700,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-287703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114907817529507695","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}