A MOVE to stop Andium Homes from increasing the rent – for at least a year – for social-housing tenants who move into refurbished properties was rejected in the States Assembly.
Deputy Rob Ward, who brought the proposition, said that Andium tenants who were given no choice but to move into a refurbished home would face an average rise of £260 in their monthly rent.
But opponents of the move criticised the attempt to ‘chip away’ at Andium’s business model and the proposition was eventually defeated by 24 votes to 16, with two abstentions.
Deputy Ward said that while some of those affected by rent rises would be covered by income support, others would need to seek support from Social Security for the first time and could become ‘trapped in poverty’ as a result.
He said: ‘It’s a poor reflection if we are sending people onto income support. These are proud people who have lived their lives without claiming.’
The proposition would have seen any rent increase suspended for 12 months and then increased incrementally over the following five to ten years, depending on the tenant’s ability to pay.
Housing Minister David Warr said there had been several previous moves to tweak Andium’s business model, such as reducing the maximum rent for social housing from 90% to 80% of market rates, recent rent freezes and a 4% cap on rent increase.
‘My biggest concern is the constant chipping away at Andium’s business model, unpicking our social rent policy piece by piece,’ he said.
Deputy Warr estimated the proposition would cost Andium £200,000 per year for at least five years, although other Members felt this would be a price worth paying.
Deputy Max Andrews said he was ‘fed up with consecutive conservative governments ignoring the needs of the people of Jersey’ while Deputy Montfort Tadier said the profits made by Andium were going to the government but not back into the housing system.
St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft and Treasury Minister Ian Gorst both spoke in support of Andium, with Deputy Gorst highlighting the rise in standards in social housing over the past 20 years.
Education Minister Inna Gardiner sought to postpone the matter until the Assembly’s next sitting, but her proposal was rejected by 20 votes to 19.
She subsequently said that a lack of data had left her unable to support the proposition.
Deputy Ward criticised the ‘fear-mongering’ of those opposing the proposition. If it was defeated, he said Islanders adversely affected should arrange meetings with their constituency Deputies to ask why they had been unwilling to support the move.
