AREAS of consensus may sometimes be in short supply in the States Assembly, but most, if not all, politicians who took their oaths of office in July 2022 following the Island’s most recent election agreed that changes needed to be made to the Residential Tenancy Law.
Initially, responsibility for this matter sat with Deputy David Warr, who took on the role of Housing Minister in the government led by Deputy Kristina Moore.
Changes to the law were developed under Deputy Warr, earning a mixed reception from fellow politicians, with former Housing Minister Sam Mézec the leading critic.
The matter was one of several key policy moves that hit the buffers as the Moore government fell as a vote of no confidence in the Chief Minister was passed in January 2024, leading to Deputy Lyndon Farnham taking on the top job.
Once ministerial roles in the new Farnham government were finalised, Deputy Mézec was back as Housing Minister after just over three years on the backbenches, and subsequently took on the residential tenancy challice.
After just over a year of taking stock, consultation and crunching of details in collaboration with law-drafting officials, the new-look Residential Tenancy Law was lodged on 24 March of this year.
Hopes that the law could be debated as soon as May seemed optimistic, but nevertheless it was eventually listed for 8 July.
After being introduced by Deputy Mézec as “a fairer and more credible framework for renting in Jersey”, creating “a rental market that works for landlords, for tenants and for the interests of all Islanders”, the debate proceeded for several hours before Deputy Inna Gardiner sought to halt it by proposing a “reference back”.
Following some tetchy exchanges, Deputy Gardiner’s move was supported by 23 votes to 22, leaving the matter back on hold until after the summer break.
The additional delay has done nothing to weaken Deputy Mézec’s resolve. Speaking to the JEP, he said private renting was the most problematic area of the housing sector, highlighting the lack of proper security of tenure, including potential revenge evictions, the lack of limits for rent increases and the absence of a rent tribunal.
“[Progress] is not for my lack of trying, because I’ve got a really good new law on the books ready to go that will go a long way to fixing this, it’s the vested interests that are getting in the way.
“So I have one hell of a fight. It’s the part of my agenda that is most likely to fail in the short term. I don’t think it will in the long term, because I think the public will cast their verdicts next year [at the election] on next year assembly. Bring it on.”
What is the minister proposing?
IN a major overhaul of the Law, Deputy Mézec outlined a string of changes – some of which were met with strong criticism from landlords.
Among the headline proposals the minister – on behalf of the government – set out were capping rent increases to the rate of inflation and to a maximum of 5% and protection against no-fault evictions for tenants.
The proposals also include longer notice periods and would not allow landlords to hike rents more than once in a year.
In the proposition, Deputy Mézec said: “Jersey is facing a housing crisis that, if unchecked, poses a significant threat to the Island’s future prosperity and will discourage many young people from considering Jersey as a place where they can settle down and build a future.
“It is the duty of a responsible government to implement policies that ensure Islanders have access to safe, secure, and affordable homes that meet their needs. The rental market plays an important role in helping to meet this objective, with half of the households in Jersey today living in rental accommodation. The rental market must be supported by a modern and fit-for-purpose legal framework that helps to protect tenants and landlords, which, it must be said, is not currently the case.”
The amendments
A total of six amendments had been lodged by 26 August, the minimum period allowed by standing orders, paving the way for another lengthy debate during the forthcoming sitting, with public business due to start on Tuesday 9 September.
- Deputy Philip Bailhache
In a submission that stretches to 18 parts, Deputy Bailhache said his proposals were “substantial” and designed to combat the minister’s “misconceived and potentially very damaging” proposals.
Some observers claimed that the amendment would hollow out Deputy Mézec’s proposals to such an extent as to render them meaningless, meaning it could be described as a “wrecking” amendment.
The Environment, Housing, and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel has subsequently proposed changes to the Bailhache amendment in relation to fixed-term tenancies with notice periods. - Deputy Mézec
The Housing Minister lodged changes he described as “minor technical amendments” which were “very much editorial in nature”. - Deputy Jonathan Renouf
The former Environment Minister put forward a move to scrap the 5% cap for rent increases proposed by Deputy Mézec.
The cap, Deputy Renouf argued in a four-paragraph report, would create an “unbalanced” policy and be “unnecessarily draconian”.
“At times of moderate to high inflation, it shifts the costs of inflation entirely onto the landlord,” he said. - The Environment, Housing, and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel
The panel moved to clear up what it described as “significant misinformation and confusion” around the proposed changes to rental laws
Deputy Hilary Jeune, panel chair, said Deputy Mézec’s ambition was welcomed by the panel, but added that “the law, as drafted, is highly complex, having been misinterpreted by all stakeholders in different ways, and risks confusion and misapplication”.
As part of a report stretching to 299 pages , the panel put forward several amendments and recommendations, with the stated aim of “strengthening the legislation and clarifying procedures”.
Two of the panel’s suggested changes take some decision-making powers away from the Housing Minister and switch these to the States Assembly in order to ensure the independence and effective working of the proposed rent tribunal.
Greater flexibility in the limit by which rental levels can be increased is another of the panel’s measures, along with proposed measures designed to bring greater equality to how rental contracts can be terminated. - Deputy Mézec
The minister proposed a change, which also formed part of the fourth amendment by the Scrutiny panel, that would mean it would no longer be necessary for police officers or government officials to be in attendance when an eviction notice was issued by a landlord in cases of serious nuisance or interference”. - Deputy Moz Scott
Barring any late amendments, which would require Members to agree to reducing the minimum lodging period, Deputy Scott’s amendment was the last to be published when it was circulated by the States Greffe at 4.41pm on “deadline day”.
In contrast to the brevity of her St Brelade colleague Deputy Renouf, Deputy Scott’s amendments stretched to 18 parts – matching Deputy Bailhache in that regard – and was accompanied by a nine-page report.
Deputy Scott stated that her proposed changes were “technical”, adding that they “may seem complex” but that “most would simplify the law considerably”.
The intention, she said, was to counter potential adverse social and economic consequences, provide some middle ground for debate; and allow time for some proposals to be reconsidered and put forward in the form of separate regulations, particularly with respect to the introduction of a Rent Tribunal.
Anything to declare?
States Members are required to state whether they have a potential interest in matters being debated. At the start of the most recent debate in July:
- 19 Members declared they had some form of interest as landlord, including owning property themselves, or their spouse being a landlord, or they had inherited property or had responsibility for rented dwellings through a company or parish, or their children lived in a property they owned.
- Five Members, including the Housing Minister, declared interests as tenants.
