New rental regulations may lead to “revenge evictions”

Sunday 10 December 2017

The Minister for the Environment is not ruling out the possibility that tenants could face “revenge evictions” for highlighting poor conditions in their homes as a result of new health and safety regulations on rented properties.

In October, the States Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of the principles of the draft Public Health and Safety (Rented Dwellings) Law, which was then referred to a specialist panel for further consideration.

They have since expressed concern that renters could be threatened with eviction for flagging up issues after the law’s introduction.

UK-based housing charity Shelter reported that over 300,000 renters faced eviction in 2014 alone after expressing concerns over the conditions of their homes. The UK law changed in 2015 to make ‘revenge evictions’ illegal. 

Under questioning by the Environment Scrutiny Panel, the Minister responsible for the law, Deputy Steve Luce, said that he would not discount the possibility that the proposed law could lead to such evictions.

Pictured: In the UK, more than 300,000 people were threatened with eviction for complaining about the conditions of their rental properties. The Scrutiny Panel feared that this would be the case in Jersey.

Nonetheless, he said that it may also discourage evictions, as the landlord would therefore be obliged to address the issues by confucting any relevant work on the property before a new tenant can move in.

The Panel also heard from the Director of Environmental Health on the matter. He noted that the amount of evictions varied considerably depending on the region. He said that this made it difficult to predict how Jersey would fare. The new law would apparently have to be in force for six months to a year before this could be properly assessed, the Panel was told.

The Panel are now calling for a review of the law on tenant evictions 12 months after the new legislation is introduced if it is approved by the States and Privy Council.

Politicians will vote on it next Tuesday.