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Citizens Advice Jersey, St Paul's Community Centre, St Helier, JE2 3WP 18th December 2019
Response to the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel Re. Minimum Standards for Rented Dwellings : Licensing Regulations Foreword
I am the CEO of Citizens Advice Jersey, a position that I have held for the last 9 years.
We are pleased to respond to this scrutiny review of the Minimum Standards for Rented Dwellings : Licensing Regulations. During the course of our work, we see the problems associated with Housing and the provision of affordable and accessible housing stock can be seen as pivotal to the overall strategy of allowing individuals and their families to thrive in a safe and secure environment in the context of fairness and equality, rather than economic dominance.
Housing was our biggest single advice area in 2018 with 1,867 cases being recorded. So many societal problems can be attributed to insecure family surroundings and we believe that many of these problems can equally be rectified at the front end'. The chart below highlights our main areas for advice in 2018.
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In relation to the specific areas highlighted by the Scrutiny Panel concerning housing conditions
We wholeheartedly support this new legislation, looking at the last full calendar year, we have had 128 clients with issues that directly relate to Housing Conditions, the common issues are;
- Damp / Mould
- Leaks
- Inadequate or non-existent heating systems
- Dangerous electrical systems
- Not wind or watertight conditions
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As is evident from the above chart, the problems with housing conditions are multi-faceted and we are at least now in a position to be able to advise tenants of proper recourse to protection with an independent assessment from Environmental Health who can, if necessary, enforce action to rectify a breach of the legislation.
Malcolm Ferey
Chief Executive
Jersey Citizens Advice Bureau Limited Tel (01534) 871692
Email Malcolm@cab.org.je
Web www.cab.org.je