SOLVING the Island’s problem of ‘substandard rented accommodation’ is an ‘obligation’ for the government, the Environment Minister has said, as his proposition to license landlords is due to be debated by the States Assembly next month.
Deputy Jonathan Renouf has lodged proposals for a licensing scheme to regulate rental properties, which, if adopted, would make it a requirement for rented dwellings to be licensed under a scheme that would come into force on 1 January 2024.
And it would be an offence, punishable with a fine of up to £10,000, to allow a property to be used as a rented dwelling unless it had a valid licence.
Currently, the Public Health and Safety (Rented Dwellings) (Jersey) Law 2018 sets minimum standards – covering health and safety, fire, gas and electrical safety and furnishings – across the rental market.
Deputy Renouf said the new scheme would ‘directly increase the quality and safety of properties in the rented sector’.
He added: ‘Some landlords will still oppose [the scheme] and feel it’s an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy, but there is absolutely a significant problem in some parts of the Island, particularly in town, with substandard rented accommodation. Frankly, it’s shocking that we have that and I regard it as an obligation to try and solve it.
‘We’re talking about some of the most vulnerable people in our community. We know that poor housing conditions affect people’s health and affect people’s life outcomes.’
Deputy Renouf continued: ‘The aim is to understand where all the properties are and to have a more effective tool for ensuring compliance with minimum safety standards.
‘At the moment, the only way we can enforce them is through criminal prosecution, but that’s a very high bar to set and needs a tenant prepared to pursue it through the courts.
‘A licensing system is a more flexible and proportionate way of dealing with those issues rather than having to rely on criminal prosecution.’
Former Environment Minister John Young was defeated by a single vote in July 2021 when he proposed a five-year fee-free landlord licence.
And States Members voted against another proposition – in which licences would have cost £100 for two years – in September 2020 by 24 votes to 20.
However, Deputy Renouf said that he had worked hard to reduce the opposition of landlords and States Members by making it a ‘more streamlined scheme’.
He has set the cost ‘relatively low’ at £60 for a two-year licence.
Equating to 0.1% of an annual rent, the scheme was not expected to increase costs for tenants, Deputy Renouf said.
He continued: ‘It’s a small extra thing for landlords to do, but has a potentially huge benefit of improving accommodation in the Island and making it a place where people want to come and work because they know that their minimum standards will be enforced and they won’t be put in squalid conditions.’
