What the development plan says about the land in Guernsey
A listing gives you a price. It does not tell you the house is on the protected register, that the garden is inside a Conservation Area, or that the field behind has already been spoken for by the plan. 146 designations from Guernsey's own published planning layers — 26 conservation areas, 25 agriculture priority areas, 7 local centres and more — matched against 222 listings currently on the market.
Every designation
| Designation | What it means for a buyer | Areas | On the market |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservation Area Les Bliqs, Les Rouvets, Les Bruliaux, Torteval Church and 22 more | The character of the area is protected. Alterations, demolition and even some repairs face tighter control than elsewhere. | 26 | 164 |
| Agriculture Priority Area | Prioritised for agricultural use. New housing here is the exception, not the rule. | 25 | 44 |
| Local Centre L'Aumone, St Peter's, Cobo, L'Islet and 3 more | Inside a designated Local Centre — a smaller settlement where limited development is supported. | 7 | 22 |
| Harbour Action Area St Peter Port Harbour Action area, The Bridge Harbour Action area | Covered by the harbour action area, where a wider redevelopment framework applies. | 2 | 9 |
| Core Retail Area SPP Core retail, Bridge Core retail | The protected retail heart of the town centre. | 2 | 6 |
| Site of Special Significance | Designated for its natural, geological or archaeological importance. Development that would harm what is designated is resisted. | 40 | 4 |
| Housing Allocation SPP067, SVV120a&b, SPP095, SPP109 and 11 more | Allocated in the Plan for housing — land the States expect to be built on. | 15 | 3 |
| Important Open Land Nocq Road, Brock Road, Mont Morin & Ronde Cheminee, Robergerie Farm, La Rue Maze, Rue De L'Eglise and 14 more | Protected for its openness. Building on it is not normally permitted. | 18 | 2 |
| Regeneration Area SPP 1, SPP 2, SPP3, SSV1 | Identified for regeneration, so change of use and redevelopment are encouraged rather than resisted. | 4 | 1 |
| Key Industrial Area | Safeguarded for industry — relevant to what may be built next door as much as on the site. | 4 | 1 |
| Mixed Use Development Area Saltpans Mixed Use Development Area | Allocated for a mix of homes, workplaces and services. | 1 | — |
| Safeguarded Area Airport Safegaurding Area, Mineral resource safeguarding area | Safeguarded for a specific future use, which constrains what else can happen on it. | 2 | — |
Source: States of Guernsey Island Development Plan (open GIS layers), read 2026-08-22. Matching is by map pin against the published boundary, so it is a strong indication and not a legal determination — a pin sits somewhere on a plot, not on its edges. Listings whose agents share a single parish-centre pin are left out entirely, because a shared coordinate cannot support a claim about one building.
The Main Centre boundary — the line that decides where most new development goes — is not here. The States publish it as an open line drawn on the landward side and closed by the coast, so turning it into an inside-or-outside test would mean inventing the sea edge. A wrong answer about the development boundary is worse than none.
See also: protected buildings, monuments and trees — what you may not change, as against what the land is for.