The proposition, which has been lodged by Environment Minister Steve Luce, would create an accredited landlords’ register and property owners would be charged for licences.
Currently, there are very few laws which can force landlords to make improvements to properties that have fallen below acceptable living standards.
The plans would effectively replicate those already in place for social and States-owned housing for private landlords.
If approved, all rented properties would have to meet minimum health and safety standards and landlords could be issued with notices if the property fails inspections.
If the notice is ignored then the landlord could face court.
Deputy Luce said: ‘What we are trying to do here is to extend the rules and regulations already in place for social housing into the private sector.
‘We have a lot of very good landlords in Jersey but we have one or two who do not quite do as much as I would like them to.
‘This would give us the opportunity to pick up on the occasional private landlords who provide accommodation that isn’t good enough.
‘We accept that sometimes tenants are not very good at looking after other people’s properties but we know there are some landlords that could do better.’
The minister said that, in addition to the registry, a voluntary star-based Rent Safe rating system – similar to the Eat Safe scheme which ranks restaurants on hygiene levels – would allow potential tenants to compare different properties.
