Housing statistics including number of J category consents issued over last 5 years

1240/5(5051)

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HOUSING BY DEPUTY M.R. HIGGINS OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 19th JANUARY 2010

Question

Would the Minister provide the Assembly with the following information –

1. the  number  of  J  category  consents  issued  in  each  of  the  last  5  years  broken  down  into occupational/industry categories?
2. what other departments or agencies in Jersey, if any, are empowered to grant J category consents?
3. the number of 1(1)(k) category consents issued over each of the last five years, indicating from which countries the individuals concerned were previously resident and/or domiciled?
4. the number of persons housed by the Department, broken down as follows - single person households under the age of 25; single person households under the age of 25 with children; single person households aged between 25 and 65; single person households aged between 25 and 65 with children; couples aged between 25 and 65; couples aged under 65 with children; couples aged over 65 and single people aged over 65.

Answer

1. The sectoral analysis of 1(1)(j) permissions is performed at the point of initial in principle approval, and not at each and every point those individuals seek consent to purchase or lease property. This sectoral analysis of approvals is provided below.

The number of approvals in any year does not necessarily equate to demand on the housing stock, as 1(1)(j) employees will also leave the island in any one year, and indeed, some 1(1)(j) individuals will transact more frequently than others while the general economic climate also effects propensity to purchase and lease. The overall levels of consents issued to 1(1)(j)s over the past 5 years however is as below:

2009 (Q1 – Q3) 1,016 38 284

An analysis of j category employment is also provided below, reflecting the demand various industries place on the overall housing stock in relation to their needs for 1(1)(j) employees.

+ means a non-zero number less than 5.

2. Only the Housing Minister can grant any consent under the Housing (Jersey) Law, 1949. The consents being processed by the Population Office on behalf of the Minister.

Notwithstanding that, the Minister permits the Health and Social Services and Education, Sport and Culture Departments to determine which individuals are of a skill requiring such consent. This permission extends to professions allied to medicine and teaching staff only, and reflects the need to support these Departments in their recruitment of key workers. This arrangement also sees these Departments as best placed to determine which individuals have the appropriate skills, and this in turn reduces red tape. Even in these cases however, all consents to actually purchase or lease property are issued by the Population Office on behalf of the Minister, and therefore the Minister retains authority over every consent application should he so wish to exercise it.

3. The statistics maintained are designed to give an indication of additional demand for housing presented by 1(1)(k)s - as opposed to counting churn in the market whereby existing 1(1)(k) residents sell one property and purchase another (which can occur with some frequency depending on the economic climate and individual behaviour).

As such, the below is an analysis of "first time" consents issued to 1(1)(k)s, i.e. the first consent they receiving in Jersey having come to the Island to take up residence.

1(1)(k) "First Time" consents approved 2004 1

2005 5

2006 9

2007 10

2008 3

2009 9

In addition, and to reflect overall activity, in principal approvals for 1(1)(k) consent are detailed below.

It is important to note that the number of approvals in any year does not necessarily equate to demand on the housing stock, as 1(1)(k) persons will also leave the island in any one year. Furthermore, some slight time-lag can exist between granting approval and a housing transaction actually taking place.

Statistics as to the previous country of residence or domicile, or of origin or nationality, of applicants for 1(1) (k) consents are not maintained, not least in the absence of compelling reasons to maintain such personal data and because almost without exception consents issued over the previous 5 years have been for British nationals, who overwhelmingly relocate from elsewhere in the British Isles.

(d) When a tenant is first housed their personal circumstances are reviewed and their marital status is recorded at that time.  However, it would be overly intrusive and administratively onerous to continually monitor the marital status of over 4,500 tenants, particularly when ones marital status will not affect your ongoing rights as a tenant.

It is therefore not possible from existing data sources to fully answer this aspect of the Deputy 's question, however, I can confirm the age profile of tenants occupying family and bedsit or 1 bedroom accommodation, as follows:

The Social Security Department do keep statistics in respect of those States tenants who claim Income Support and Social Security have been able to confirm the following from their records: