Select a region
A Deputy is pushing for a tribunal to be reintroduced to ensure the “most egregious rises in rental prices are dealt with quickly and effectively.”
It emerged recently that Jersey already has legislation in place that enables a Rent Tribunal to operate – the Dwelling-Houses (Rent Control) Law 1946 – but that this law has not been observed for many years.
Deputy Kirsten Morel is now calling on politicians to acknowledge this fact and ensure a Tribunal, estimated to cost around £50,000 annually to operate, be reconstituted by 31 December this year.
He also wants to see a portal put in place to allow tenants to gain access to these services online.
The push, he explained in a report accompanying his proposals, comes in response to the “housing affordability crisis”. While he says he understands that the Housing Minister has put forward his own plan for dealing with this, Deputy Morel says “it is clear that it will take time for the plan to have any effect on the cost of housing in Jersey."
“A Rent Control Tribunal may not appeal to Members who favour the use of the market to determine rental prices but it is clear that today’s market is no longer able to provide for people on lower incomes and so, is failing the island as a whole,” he added.
Pictured: Deputy Kirsten Morel.
“By re-constituting the Tribunal, Members will be providing islanders who feel that their landlords have raised their rents beyond a reasonable amount, with a route to challenging those rents and in so doing, the assembly will be providing a stabilisation mechanism for the market by allowing for the highest rents within a given housing unit sector, to be moderated.”
He said it had previously been suggested that, despite being a body enshrined in law, the original Rent Control Tribunal’s eventual closure may have been due to a “lack of applications”. However, Deputy Morel said this may have been because not enough people knew about the service or how to access it.
His bid to ensure the service is given a proper online presence aims to deal with this issue, he explained.
On the benefit of his proposal, he added: “…the fact that a licensing scheme is on the horizon means that the issues of revenge evictions will be addressed because a landlord will be at risk of losing their licence should they be found to engage in the malicious eviction of a tenant.”
But the proposal not only relates to rent itself, the Deputy explained: “…By supporting this proposition, the Assembly will be sending a message to government that it is not in a position to pick and choose the laws which it observes.”
Deputy Morel featured in last week's edition of the Bailiwick Pod in a wide-ranging interview touching on the housing crisis, his vision for 'net zero' migration, creating a 'model' civil service, a happiness-focused economy, and why Jersey doesn't have to be the best at everything...
Housing Minister launches 'right-size' plan for local homes
Housing: lack of action blamed on “political cowardice”
Ministers rally against plan to declare ‘housing crisis’
FOCUS: Politicians reject plans to declare a 'housing affordability crisis'
Over 400 "highest priority" islanders on affordable housing waiting list
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.