Personal Relocation
Due to the size of the island there are strict controls on who may occupy homes in Guernsey and who may live and work on the island. Those who have strong familial ties with the Guernsey either by birth, marriage or long term residency will have the rights to live and work on the island. These people are considered to be “locally qualified residents”. Those who do not have these links have the ability to be granted a housing licence which enables them to live and work on the island for a defined period of time and in a certain classification of property.
There are two sectors of the housing market on the island which reflect the dweller’s residency qualifications. They are defined as open market and local market.
Open Market
Open Market properties in Guernsey are freely available for purchase and occupation by anyone with the right of abode in the UK or EEC member state. These open market properties are generally the larger dwellings and also usually considerably more expensive than local market properties.
Local Market
Local market properties can only be occupied by locally-qualified residents or local licence holders. There are more of these properties available and generally they are less expensive than open market properties.
Rights to work in Guernsey
In order to work on Guernsey it is necessary to have been granted a right-to-work certificate, which is part of the housing licence documentation. Employees are asked to present this documentation to their employer at the start of their new job. These documents are issued by the States of Guernsey.
Carey Olsen advises many local organisations in respect of applications for housing licences and right-to-work documentation. Employers have a legal obligation to ensure that all new employees have valid right to work certificate. It is an offence for a person to employ a person or work without a valid right to work document.
