A LIVE panel event hosted by All Island Media saw voices from across the housing sector and political divide questioning whether Jersey’s housing qualifications system remains fit for purpose as the Island grapples with high rents and a shrinking workforce. In the latest in a series of special reports looking at the topics raised at the event, we take a deeper look at the panel’s views on the housing qualifications system…
Housing… crisis averted? offered Islanders a chance to hear directly from Housing Minister Sam Mézec shaping housing policies, and those responding to their consequences on the ground, including property professionals and housing providers
The event was hosted by All Island Media – parent company of the JEP and Bailiwick Express – and sponsored by Tenn Capital, and took place at the Pomme d’Or Hotel on last Wednesday evening. It followed a Question Time-style format, with the discussion shaped by questions submitted by the public.
One topic that was discussed was whether Jersey’s housing qualifications system was the right way to control the Island’s population.
Under current housing legislation, Islanders who have been in Jersey for fewer than ten years and are not considered essential employees can only live in “registered” accommodation. This consists mostly of guest houses, lodging houses and spare rooms.
Registered Islanders are three times more likely to live in overcrowded conditions than those with “entitled” status, according to recent figures.
But what did each panellist have to say?
Former Housing Minister Deputy David Warr defended the need for rules but admitted they’re a “blunt tool” that can make life difficult for low- and middle-income workers.
“We need these rules to stop every Tom, Dick and Harry coming into this Island who is not necessarily going to come here and work,” he said. “It’s a very difficult political tension.”
Deputy Warr, who also runs Coopers Coffee, acknowledged that these rules can create barriers to a decent quality of life for workers.
“I’m very sensitised to the ability for them to get hold of a home which is affordable, where they can live rather than just exist,” he said.
But Housing Minister Deputy Sam Mézec argued the qualifications system had become fundamentally unfair and was now harming lower-income workers while giving special privileges to the wealthy.
“The qualification system does not sit easily on my conscience because it delivers discrimination,” he said. “People who come to the Island to work hard will be restricted to a certain type of housing. That’s discriminatory.
“I don’t like the double standards that we have where, if you’re wealthy, none of those restrictions apply to you, because we say these people provide economic worth. I’m sorry – other people provide economic worth as well. That’s discrimination, and I don’t like it.”
Deputy Mézec argued that while the system was originally designed to limit population growth, it no longer reflects the Island’s social or economic needs, and that reform is now overdue.
“If we can loosen the rules and give people the freedom to be able to house themselves in what’s most appropriate for them, without causing unintended consequences and hurting others, then we should be open to do that,” he said.
For Jersey Homes Trust consultant Michael Van Neste, the issue is not only fairness but long-term economic harm. He said current rules were pushing out workers who could otherwise contribute meaningfully to the Island’s workforce.
“There’s a whole category of people who don’t have housing qualifications, and they’re paying a lot more than they should have to,” he said. “It’s a matter of principle that anyone with gainful employment in the Island should be allowed to rent any property that they could afford.”
He added: “There are numerous vacancies in the Island since Brexit and Covid, and the population has gone down by about 10,000 people. Most of these people will have been employed in sectors like construction, health and education, and they’re not coming back.”
Mr Van Neste warned the current system was harming Jersey’s economy by making it harder for essential workers to stay.
“This is surely the time to open up the gateway and the market to that section of the community,” he said. “We’d all be better off.”
He called on the government to “open up the gateway to anyone who needs accommodation” and to “end discrimination against people who are in the Island and working.”
But Broadland’s Harry Trower argued that some form of population control is still necessary, warning against pushing the system too far in the other direction.
“Jersey is 45 square miles and we have a population of 110,000 people,” he said. “We have to control the population somehow, otherwise it will get out of control.
“We’ve got a market that’s being hindered, not helped, and then you want to add more people to the mix. That’s bananas.”
But others said using housing as a population control tool had ethical implications. Captain Alice Nunn, of the Salvation Army, who brings first-hand experience of housing precarity and homelessness, said it was the most vulnerable who suffered.
“It is the most vulnerable people who get discriminated against, and yet we desperately need people who don’t have housing qualifications in the Island,” she said.
While recognising that Jersey had to be realistic about its size and resources, she questioned whether housing should ever be used as a way to control who is allowed to stay.
She said: “Our population should not be controlled by housing. It’s just not right.”
