Committee warns housing policy is failing young people, urging reforms to first time buyer support
Graduate students are dissuaded from returning to the Isle of Man by the inaccessibility of independent living and a lack of focus on young people's needs in existing housing policy.
That's one of the main conclusions in the latest report from the Tynwald Youth Select Committee - a body formed in 2023 to engage young people aged 15 to 24 in the legislative process.
The committee says Government should engage with the Island's young people and third sector organisations to assess where improvements could be made.
At least one of the report's recommendations is already being acted upon - a review of the income thresholds for first time buyers schemes on Island.
But other suggestions from the committee offer more radical solutions. Among them is a recommendation that smaller properties for single and childless households should be a priority when planning new housing developments, to correlate with the Island's declining birth rate.
The report also concludes that what it calls the stark lack of minimum standards that rental accommodation must meet requires remediation to protect the interest and safety of tenants.
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