Rent-up frustration over expensive housing provokes reaction

Saturday 22 September 2018

Turning vacant properties into housing is being considered as a way to make accommodation more affordable in Jersey, the Housing Minister has said, after over 3,000 islanders called for a law limiting rental prices.

According to Senator Sam Mézec, repurposing empty properties as homes is one of several avenues a dedicated Policy Development Board can look into to prevent ‘rental stress’ amongst islanders.

His comments came in response to a petition asking for caps on rental prices. At the time of writing, it has been signed by over 3,055 people. The creator of the petition, Jan McAllister, wrote: “Rents are far too high. Rents should be around 30% of people's salaries. The present rents are causing rent distress in individuals and businesses to close.”

All petitions that get over 1,000 signatures receive a response from the relevant Minister, therefore Senator Mézec acknowledged Ms McAllister’s concerns, accepting that “the cost of housing is a challenge for many households in Jersey.” His response continued: “73% of lower-income households living in qualified private rented accommodation could be considered in ‘rental stress’, with some families paying over half of their income in housing costs.”

Pictured: Senator Sam Mézec, who is the Housing Minister, has responded to a petition about 'rental stress' by outlining several avenues for consideration to make housing in Jersey more affordable.

Bringing empty properties back into use as housing has long been on the Reform Jersey manifesto, as well as being part of Chief Minister John Le Fondré’s agreement with the party. 

When asked about the kind of solution vacant properties could provide for stressed-out renters, Senator Mézec said: “In 2011, we knew that there were 3,000 empty residential properties around the island. Of those 3,000 properties, a fair proportion of them will probably be empty for perfectly good reason, [such as being] in-between tenants, or currently being refurbished, but what we don’t know is how many are empty for no good reason?”

The Housing Minister said he was concerned that some of these properties could be empty due to wealthy investors “hoarding” them or buying them to rent out. He described this behaviour as “a great way of funnelling money out of the economy and inflating the cost of housing”. He added that he was determined to “get those empty properties back on the market” as well as working “to restrict foreign investors from buying properties when its having a negative impact on the people who are already in the island and looking for somewhere to live."

Pictured: The Housing Minister said that alongside rent caps, he would be considering bringing empty properties back into use as housing.

The response agrees that rent caps are one option for addressing Jersey’s rocketing rents, but the Minister said that its “limited success” in other jurisdictions meant that the Department were also looking at other options. 

Alongside the issue of tackling empty properties, the Housing Minister outlined other work to improve housing affordability, including the introduction of a law to ensure rented properties meet certain standards, building more homes and considering other schemes to stabilise rent prices using longer leases.

If the petition reaches 5,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in the States Assembly.