blog.gov.je
Jersey’s government has been in office for just over a year now, and we are using each month this year to focus on one of the priorities we set when we took office.
This month, the focus is on ‘Building a Future in Jersey’, which housing is a crucial part of.
Since taking office, responding to Jersey’s housing crisis has been a key focus. On the first full day, I arrived at the government office ready to issue some quick instructions that I had carefully planned to get things moving as quickly as possible. I immediately established a ‘Housing Crisis Emergency Taskforce’, bringing together a team who I would work in partnership with to deliver on my three key priorities:
- Support more Islanders into homeownership
- Improve the experience of renters
- Address the plight of homelessness
However, real progress is measured through actions, not words.
So let’s look at some of the key achievements in the first year.
Launch of the First Step assisted homeownership scheme
The First Step scheme was designed to make homeownership more accessible for those who might otherwise struggle to buy a home. With an initial investment of £10 million, the scheme offers equity loans to buyers in the private market, delivered in partnership with Andium Homes. Since its launch, the initiative has already helped dozens of Islanders purchase their first homes, with many more to follow. The model has proven successful, widely supported by buyers, sellers, and real estate professionals alike. As a self-sustaining scheme, funds will be recycled to assist future buyers as additional financing becomes available.
A new Residential Tenancy Law for Jersey
Jersey’s legal framework for governing how residential tenancies work is inadequate and outdated. It is about to become a whole lot more outdated as the UK government is due to pass their Renters’ Rights Bill, which will make significant improvements in security of tenure and banning rip-off practices. We could be even further behind, yet again.
After years of talk on this subject, we are now on the verge of having our Jersey equivalent of the Renters’ Rights Bill debated in the Assembly. If adopted, it will provide a much better framework for residential tenancies, to the benefit of both landlords and tenants. In particular, it will end the scourge of revenge evictions and provide greater protection for those facing unjustifiable rent increases.
Opening up the Affordable Housing Gateway
Social housing plays a vital role in Jersey’s housing landscape, offering affordability and stability. In response to increased social housing availability, the eligibility criteria have been expanded, lowering income thresholds and reducing the minimum age for applicants to 25. These changes ensure that more Islanders have access to suitable and affordable housing options.
Development of the Housing Advice Service
The government now provides a much stronger in-house support offering for Islanders struggling with housing issues. This team has grown in the last two years and is offering much more outreach services than ever before. They have strengthened connections with all government departments and third sector organisations, and are finding bespoke solutions for those in need every day. This also means we are in a much better position to try to prevent people becoming homeless when that prospect arises.
We have now also reintroduced face-to-face meetings for those applying for social housing, and sped up the process for first-time-buyers seeking to regain their status so they can up-size and start or grow their families.
Closure of the Empty Homes Service
In an effort to allocate resources effectively, the decision was made to discontinue the Empty Homes Service. Instead, the Receiver General has taken a proactive approach to acquiring long-term vacant homes and making them available for families in need. This method ensures a more direct and impactful use of resources to bring empty properties back into use.
Looking ahead
I am proud of this record after one year in office. Have we solved the housing crisis in that time? Not even close. There is still much more to do. But the green shoots are beginning to emerge.
Over the next year, we can look forward to more homes being built, now that we finally have planning permission to build affordable homes for social rent and first-time-buyers in some of the re-zoned Island Plan sites, with more on the way. This means family-sized homes which we desperately need will start to come into use and transform the lives of those who end up living there.
Andium and I are in talks about some new opportunities we may have to deliver more pathways into homeownership. We are brimming with enthusiasm for what more we can deliver together.
But the most important thing we can do in the short term is to restore hope among Islanders.
If people believe that there is no chance of anything getting better, then you can’t blame them for not wanting to stay and instead looking for better options elsewhere. But if people feel like there is a chance that better times are waiting just round the corner, they are more likely to stick it out.
If we keep on this track and get more of this agenda over the line, eventually Islanders will feel the benefits and we can turn Jersey round from the decline it has sometimes felt like we were facing in recent years.