Landlord vote ‘a big victory and a big step forward’

States Deputy Montfort Tadier St Brelade No2 Picture: TONY PIKE

Deputy Montfort Tadier said there was a ‘loophole’ in the law ‘that needed to be closed, [as it allowed] a minority to discriminate, which had a big implication’.

The Deputy brought a successful proposition in 2018 calling on Social Security Minister Judy Martin to bring changes to the Island’s discrimination law. Last month, those changes were formally passed by the Assembly, with 42 Members voting in favour of the amendments and Constable John Le Bailly voting against.

The government pledged to ‘put children first’ in 2019, with Chief Minister John Le Fondré saying at the time that the Council of Ministers had ‘recognised the importance of prioritising children and young people’ in the Government Plan and its Common Strategic Policy.

Of the recent vote, Deputy Tadier said: ‘It is a big victory and a big step forward.’ He said that it was ‘difficult for people to look for property at the best of times, without any additional obstacles’, adding: ‘I think it is an important step for renters.’

The backbench politician said he had been approached by many concerned parishioners and tenants in the lead-up to his 2018 proposition. In his proposition report, he included the testimony of a young Jersey mother, Kat de la Mare, who said: ‘A few years ago, my husband and I returned to Jersey, pregnant, and searching for a home ready to birth my first baby. It was so depressing how many landlords saw my belly and said we wouldn’t be allowed to rent “because of the noise of a new baby”.’

The Reform Jersey member said some of the worst examples he had heard involved expectant parents, and he said that uncertainty over their accommodation often ‘became an added pressure and affected families’ mental health’.

He added that his approach was ‘never about setting landlords against tenants’, as he said most landlords co-operated ‘very well’.

The St Brelade Deputy said that now that the proposition had been passed, he was waiting to see how the law was deployed.

‘I think, in the next few months, we will see the difference,’ he said.

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