A FORMER Housing Minister has suffered a heavy defeat in an attempt to revise the criteria for pensioners wishing to gain access to social housing.
Deputy David Warr put forward plans in the States Assembly yesterday to raise the limit for pensioners wanting to enter the Affordable Housing Gateway from the current figure of £70,000 to £200,000.
But the St Helier South Deputy attracted support from just six other Members, with his proposition defeated by 30 votes to seven.
Raising the gap would be a way of improving the quality of life of those described as “asset rich, cash poor”, Deputy Warr said, saying that some people of pension age had contributed a lot to Jersey but were struggling financially.
He estimated that around 1,000 Islanders owned their own home with no mortgage but remained in relatively low income, saying such people could sell off their home, pay off their mortgage, free up a home for members of the next generation after moving to social housing.
However Deputy Sam Mézec, who succeeded Deputy Warr as Housing Minister in February last year, criticised his predecessor’s arguments as “either extremely misguided or misunderstanding how the system works”.
The “fatal flaw” in the proposition was that it would mean someone with £200,000 in assets could leapfrog someone without assets, he added.
Deputy Mézec said he intended to take his own action regarding the eligibility criteria by signing a ministerial order which would place applicants into three priority bands. Those with more than £80,000 would be placed in the lowest priority group, he said, unless they could demonstrate a liability towards health, care or other social needs.
Although admitting that he thought Deputy Mézec’s proposals were the better option, Deputy Jonathan Renouf criticised the current minister for not working with Scrutiny and others before signing his ministerial order.
“I would hope that the minister’s proposals would be further developed in collaboration with Members – it feels a bit rushed and panicky at the moment,” he said.
Deputy Karen Wilson said she felt Deputy Warr’s proposed move would help some of the Island’s “forgotten poor”, achieving “a balance of compassion and control”.
But Deputy Montfort Tadier said the proposition was “fraught with problems that make it practically unworkable, with thresholds which don’t stack up”, and that ministers and other States Members should work with Deputy Mézec to come up with a more sustainable social housing system.
