Assistant Ministers admit overcharging tenants for electricity

Thursday 18 March 2021

Two landlord Assistant Ministers have admitted they both once overcharged tenants for electricity.

Assistant Chief Minister and Constable of St. Ouen Richard Buchanan and Assistant Minister and St. Peter Deputy Rowland Huelin, who both run lodging houses, owned up to the practice in statements issued this afternoon.

Deputy Huelin, who is a member of the Jersey Landlords Association, said what happened was a "genuine error", while Constable Buchanan was clear that his "intention" was to only cover costs, "not to profit from supplying electricity to our tenants."

The admissions came following the publication of a response to a request made under the Freedom of Information Law earlier this week.

When an islander asked whether any landlords found to have been overcharging were sitting members of the States Assembly, the reply was simply 'Yes.'

Reform Jersey described it as "deeply concerning" that any States Members could be culpable of what they termed an "unjustifiable and exploitative" practice. They said they would be asking the Attorney General why no criminal prosecutions had been brought forward.

The response also led to intense speculation among islanders, with many calling for the landlords-come-politicians in question to reveal themselves. 

Our statement on the news that some States Members have been found as landlords to be overcharging their tenants for their electricity bills. pic.twitter.com/q6e9ejt7JZ

— Reform Jersey (@ReformJersey) March 17, 2021

Deputy Huelin was the first to come forward this afternoon.

"When elected I handed over full management of my Lodging House (which has a Rent Safe accreditation of 4 out of 5) to a reputable agent. A brief conversation on electricity charges took place when, if I recall, charging an additional 0.7p per unit to cover the service charge and communal areas was deemed fair and appropriate.  My sole intent was that it should be cost-neutral," he explained.

"The lodging house, through my agent, was inspected in the summer of 2019. At that point the inspector advised against the additional 0.7p per unit charge. A discussion took place on how to recover the service charge. The solution was complicated so I instructed my agent to recover just the electricity charges at unit cost (15.3p) with the cost of the service charge and communal areas falling to me. 

"The inspector accepted this was a genuine error on my part and was satisfied with my immediate action to correct the error."

Half-an-hour later, Constable Buchanan commented: "The small lodging house I run with my wife – accredited with 4 out of 5 stars by the Rent Safe scheme – supplies tenants with hot water and heating at no extra charge. But they are required to pay for the electricity they use for lighting and electrical equipment.  This was supplied via individual pay-as-you-go coin meters installed in each bedsit, and in the laundry room. The rate was set at the same tariff supplied by the JEC. 

"In September 2017, when old pound coins were withdrawn, we had to replace the meters, and the only option available at the time was a system of electronic cards that can be loaded with credit.

"We were advised that the cost of each card, over and above their face value, could be recouped via the unit rate set at each electricity meter and this was done in late 2017. The intention was only to cover our costs, not to profit from supplying electricity to our tenants.

"In 2019 an Environmental Health inspector pointed out that this uplift in the unit rate was contrary to the Residential Tenancy Supply of Services Order and that we should refund our tenants. This was done to the satisfaction of the Department and we had confirmation that the matter was closed. 

"A total of £294, shared between 7 residential units (£42 per unit), was refunded to cover the nineteen months from September 2017 to April 2019."