Housing Minister Sam Mézec was quoted in a JEP article last week as saying recent figures showed a ‘mature and confident’ housing market, despite house prices increasing by 7% and rentals going up on average by 9%. He has now distanced himself from the comments and said they were not authorised by him.
On his Facebook page, the minister calls into question the process through which official statements are made.
Senator Mézec said: ‘For the record, the quotes attributed to me in this article were absolutely NOT authorised by me and do not reflect my views.
‘Jersey’s housing market is broken.
‘The fact that home ownership is so far out of reach for the ordinary working family, and the fact that over half the renting population are in rental stress is a damning indictment on the failed legacies of the governments we have had up until now.’
And the Reform Jersey party – which the minister is chairman of – tweeted that the ‘quotes attributed to our chairman were not authorised by him’ and do not reflect the views of either him or the party.
The JEP had requested an interview with the minister following the release of the House Price Index last week.
It has now been explained that the statement was wrongly attributed to Senator Mézec by the communications team and should have instead been quoted as coming from a ‘States spokesperson’ and that the minister had not seen the statement in advance of its publication.
However, it has not been confirmed who wrote the statement or why Senator Mézec was unable to provide his own comment.
The House Price Index also outlined that families on an average income could no longer afford to buy a house of any kind in Jersey. In the response issued by the States communications unit, Senator Mézec was quoted as saying that the report ‘shows a mature and confident housing market, with all property types recording their highest annual average prices seen to date. However, we recognise that the affordability of housing, both to rent and to purchase, is a significant challenge for many Islanders.’
The communications unit has faced criticism for its rapid expansion, the amount spent redesigning the team and concerns that the team was put in place to protect what is released, as much as it is to communicate with staff and Islanders.
Director of communications Stephen Hardwick has previously said that he was ‘unprepared’ for the level of scrutiny he has received since starting the role. Mr Hardwick was appointed on an interim basis by States chief executive Charlie Parker as part of an initial four-strong team – dubbed ‘Charlie’s Angels’ – to help re-shape the Island’s civil service.
The JEP contacted both Senator Mézec and the States communications unit for a comment, but did not receive one at the time of going to print.
