New rental law to include protections against unfair evictions

Wednesday 24 April 2024

A new residential tenancy law which hopes to “provide a better experience for people who rent their homes” will be lodged by the Housing Minister later this year.

Deputy Sam Mézec yesterday issued an update to the States Assembly about his proposed legislation, which he hopes will be in force by next year.

It will include protections against unfair evictions and unjustifiable rent increases, according to the Housing Minister.

Pictured: The new law will include protections against unfair evictions and unjustifiable rent increases.

The new law forms part of the Government’s Common Strategic Policy, published earlier this month, including a commitment to provide more affordable homes and bring greater confidence to the rental sector.

Today I have announced that I intend to lodge a new law later this year to provide a better experience for people who rent their homes.

This will include protections against unfair evictions and unjustifiable rent increases. pic.twitter.com/pXtYmuAiiR

— Deputy Sam Mézec (@SamMezecJsy) April 23, 2024

Four priority areas will be covered in the proposed law:

• Enhanced security of tenure for tenants. A new type of tenancy will provide for enhanced notice provisions and protection against no-fault evictions. Deputy Mézec hopes to answer concerns from landlords, he said, by including the means for landlords to take swifter action against tenants in serious breach of their tenancy agreement, and to issue notice and reclaim properties when appropriate.

• Rent stabilisation measures, with rent increases limited to once per year and minimum notice periods for rent reviews being implemented. Housing officials are working with their counterparts in the Economy Department to prepare an index that would define an acceptable upper limit for rent increases.

• A new Housing Tribunal, proposed by Deputy Mézec as a backbencher and approved by the Assembly in May 2023, which would hear appeals from both landlords and tenants in order to provide a fair and accessible way to resolve disputes. Deputy Mézec said it was likely the tribunal would become operational at a later date to ensure the main legislation was not delayed.

• The introduction of provisions to prevent “inappropriate fees and charges”, including offences and penalties for unlawful practices. Deputy Mézec said he would ensure that landlords and tenants would have the right of appeal and that there were appropriate penalties for non-compliance.

In his report, the Housing Minister stated: “The Residential Tenancy Law will provide the bedrock for a thriving rental sector, balancing the needs of landlords and tenants, whilst making long overdue progress in alleviating our housing crisis.

“I look forward to presenting this law later in the year and further engaging with islanders and stakeholders to seek their contribution in a meaningful way.”

Pictured: Reform Jersey leader Deputy Sam Mézec was elected to start a second stint as Housing Minister in late January of this year.

Having been handed ministerial responsibility for housing by the Assembly in the wake of the 2018 election, then-Senator Mézec resigned in November 2020 in order to support a no-confidence vote in Chief Minister John Le Fondré.

Just over three years after his return to the backbenches, including his re-election as a States Member in the election of June 2022, Deputy Mézec was elected to start a second stint as Housing Minister in late January of this year.