Housing waiting lists

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

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 19th JANUARY 2016

Question

Will the Minister advise Members for each year during the period 2010 to 2015:

1. how many people were on the housing waiting list in each year, breaking the figures down into:

1. the number of single parent families;
2. the number of couples without children;
3. the number of couples with children, identifying in addition the number of children in each family on the waiting list;
4. the number of single persons.

2. The number of new housing units provided by the States of Jersey and Housing Trusts each year in the period, providing a separate number for each, breaking the figures further down into single bed flats, two bedroom flats, three bedroom flats and single bedroom, two bedroom and three bedroom houses.
3. The number of private sector housing units that have come on to the market each year during the same period using the same categories as in (b) above.

Answer

The Housing Gateway waiting list was introduced in 2013 to consolidate the waiting lists of all social housing providers, including social housing tenants who wish to transfer to another unit, and those qualifying to move into the social housing sector.

The total waiting list figure for December 2015 was 1,092, including transfers, with 653 private households in the most urgent housing bands (1 and 2).

The housing gateway publishes monthly statistics on the waiting list, which also explains the banding system, and these can be found on the following web site:

https://www.gov.je/Home/RentingBuying/ApplicationAllocation/Pages/HousingWaitingList.aspx

The number of applications in each of the individual years 2013, 2014, and 2015 for the categories requested was as follows:

1. single parent families:

2. couples without children: (iii)

couples with children, identifying in addition the number of children in each family on the waiting list:

(iv)  single persons;

In addition, the Housing Strategy includes an action to review the Housing Gateway eligibility criteria to make sure that it reflects the current demand and supply for social housing. This work includes analysing and examining further the detailed data on the Housing Gateway waiting list, including a breakdown of household numbers and types, and this information will be available as part of the publication of the results of this work, which is due in the next 3 months.

(b) & (c)  Information on the supply of homes is produced by the Environment Department and the Minister for Environment will be publishing the latest housing supply data by the end of January 2016. The Strategic housing Unit work very closely with the Environment Department and this information is a key piece of evidence that supports many of my Housing objectives, as outlined in the draft Housing Strategy.