A FORMER Bailiff is pushing against the Housing Minister’s proposed rent reforms, claiming that measures to protect tenants are “unfair” for landlords and would affect their “right to ownership”.
Deputy Sir Philip Bailhache made the criticisms in an amendment to Deputy Sam Mézec’s new residential tenancy law proposals, which include limits on rent increases and the creation of a Rent Tribunal, among other changes.
But Deputy Bailhache wants to remove caps on rent increases, the Rent Tribunal, limits on periodic tenancies, limits on evictions, and civil penalties for landlords. Should Deputy Bailhache’s amendments be approved by the States Assembly, the Minister’s proposals would be largely hollowed out.
Deputy Bailhache described Deputy Mézec’s plans as “misconceived and potentially very damaging to the private rental sector and ultimately to Jersey’s economy”.
Deputy Mézec’s proposals include limits on how much rents can be increased: his proposals limit increases to RPI (and cap them at 5%), set a one-increase-per-year limit, and impose at least two months’ notice. Larger increases would be allowed if there has been a refurb or if the rent has fallen “significantly behind” the market.
But Deputy Bailhache claimed the figures showing that 64% of renters found it difficult to meet the cost of housing “is a consequence, not of landlords’ rapacity, but of incomes failing to keep pace with the cost of living”.
He said that a 5% cap on rent increases would effectively be a “subsidy for all tenants” at the “expense of landlords”.
“That is unfair,” wrote Deputy Bailhache.
“Landlords’ expenses on repairs and renewals, and indeed generally, are not capped at 5% during periods of high inflation.
“Many landlords with limited means rely upon rents to supplement their income. Not all landlords are faceless corporations.”
The former Bailiff said that Deputy Mézec’s proposed Rent Tribunal would “introduce a new form of expensive bureaucracy” and suffer the same fate as the old rent tribunal, which hasn’t operated for several decades.
He also criticised the plans to force fixed-term leases to be followed by open-ended tenancies, stating that this promotes “considerable interference with the contractual freedom of landlord and tenant to make their own arrangements”.
“Why should their contractual freedom be interfered with in this way?” he asked.
Deputy Bailhache said that the “situation is worse” for landlords, who wouldn’t be able to end a tenancy for reasons like “unacceptable” behaviour”.
He added: “People living near each other do sometimes fall out.”
Good tenants, he said, are “very unlikely to be called upon to vacate the property”, and described long-term tenants as “gold dust” for landlords.
The Minister’s arguments that tenants are left vulnerable to revenge evictions or to being evicted at any time without reason are unfounded, he said.
Deputy Bailhache also said that these measures could drive some landlords out of the market, creating a greater shortage of rental property and driving up rents.
The proposals are due to be debated by the States Assembly in July.
