• Refurbishment of 56-apartment Westaway Court in St Helier is complete.
• Key workers are already moving into the homes near the hospital.
• New accommodation will help attract and retain key workers.
Work to bring Westaway Court back into use temporarily for accommodation has been completed, with key workers already having moved into parts of the site in St Helier in recent months.
Westaway Court, near the hospital, was built in 1976. It has 56 apartments, many of which were dilapidated because they had previously been earmarked for potential demolition.
Increasing the amount of accommodation specifically for key workers is one of the priorities of the Chief Minister’s 2023 Ministerial Plan, targeting an additional 100 homes this year.
The 47 low-rise apartments at Westaway Court were all finished and ready to be lived in by 17 March, with the nine apartments in the high-rise building finished today (6 April) for inhabiting from the middle of April.
Chief Minister, Deputy Kristina Moore, said: “The availability of accommodation in Jersey for our essential workers, particularly in the areas of health and education, became an urgent issue for this Council of Ministers. It was clearly impacting on our ability to recruit and retain staff in critical roles.
“The location of Westaway Court, so near to the hospital, makes it particularly suitable for use by health colleagues. We know that having access to good and affordable accommodation plays an important role in wellbeing and will help us to attract and keep those people with the vital skills our Island needs.”
Minister for Infrastructure, Deputy Tom Binet, said: “I’m pleased the team have been able to refurbish these apartments and bring them up to the required standards so promptly,following the go-ahead for the project which came towards the end of last year.
“We had an immediate need to increase the supply of homes for colleagues in health andCYPES, and Westaway Court was available as a solution. I’d like to thank all those who’ve worked so hard on this over the past few months.”
Government of Jersey News Release