Scrutiny concerned for the most vulnerable with new tenancy law proposals
26th April 2024
The Environment, Housing, and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel (the Panel) has carried out its first quarterly hearing with the Minister for Housing, Deputy Sam Mézec.
Despite reassurances from the Minister, the Panel is concerned that Jersey's most vulnerable tenants will not be protected by the current Residential Tenancy Law proposals. The Panel is concerned at the removal of social housing, landlord/employer tenancies, and non-self-contained accommodation regulation. While the Minister said he intends to revisit the excluded areas, he has yet to put together a timeline or work programme for these areas. The Panel will examine this closely when it reviews the finalised proposals later in the year to ensure that the island's most vulnerable tenants are adequately protected.
The Minister said the new Residential Tenancy Law will be brought before the States Assembly for debate in September. He added that there would be no further formal public consultations, but he will be focusing on direct stakeholder engagements in further developing the law.
Deputy Hilary Jeune, Chair of the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Panel, said:
'While as a Panel we applaud the aims of the Residential Tenancy Law, there are some areas where we have concerns. In particular is the de-prioritisation of social housing, landlord/employer tenancies, and non-self-contained accommodation regulation. The Minister said there is no timeline for these to be looked at and they may not even be dealt with in this Government term. We will therefore be looking to conduct a thorough review of the proposed law when it is brought forward in September and make sure that it provides a sound basis for good and fair contractual arrangements between tenants and landlords.'
The Panel also heard that:
- The Minister has instructed officers to stop work on the Empty Homes Service and that the declaration site on Gov.je would be closed.
- The hearing also addressed the Code of Practice published earlier this month by the Minister for the Environment to sit alongside the Rented Dwellings Licensing scheme which goes live at the beginning of May. The Minister said that while he had not been directly involved, consultation hadn't been as good as it should have been, and he would be working with landlords to improve that engagement. This will be an area that the Scrutiny Panel will be monitoring.
- 124 applications had been received for the first tranche of the First Steps scheme, and these were under review, with the second and third tranches opening up in July and September.
- The findings of the public consultation undertaken by the previous Government on proposals for the Residential Tenancy Law have now been published: RTL Findings report (Final) 22 April 2024.pdf (gov.je)
- The Panel also highlighted some concerns over the levels of engagement that have taken place with developers and landowners over the greenfield sites that have been rezoned for housing.
- The Minister was committed to presenting a policy for encouraging right-sizing by 31st May – in line with the deadline set by the fifth amendment to the Government Plan.
You can watch a full recording of the hearing here: bit.ly/3wfhvp7
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