Report on Residential Tenancy (Jersey) Law 200-.

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A decision made (25/04/2008) regarding: Report on Residential Tenancy (Jersey) Law 200-.

Decision Reference: MD-H-2008-0047
Decision Summary Title :	Report on Residential Tenancy (Jersey) Law 200-		Date of Decision Summary:	24 April 2008
Decision Summary Author:	Melanie Cavey		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	-
Written Report Title :	Residential Tenancy (Jersey) Law 200-		Date of Written Report:	24 April 2008
Written Report Author:	Melanie Cavey		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Draft Residential Tenancy (Jersey) Law 200- and issues around the return of tenants’ deposits.
Decision(s): The Housing Minister, acting on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers, agreed that the white paper produced by the Population Office and entitled “Residential Tenancy Law 200-“ should be presented to the States as an ‘R’ on 29th April 2008. The Housing Minister further agreed that the public should be consulted on the above report for a period of 8 weeks, ending on 24th June 2008.
Reason(s) for Decision: The former Housing Committee appointed a Working Party under the Chairmanship of Senator Corrie Stein in December 1996 which considered eviction procedures and security of tenure for tenants. P257 / 1998 Security of Tenure – Report of the Working Party was presented to the States in 1998 and adopted. Subsequently, in 2002, Senator Stein brought an amendment to the States seeking the setting up of a Tenants’ Deposit Scheme to assist tenants in getting back deposit monies paid to landlords at the commencement of tenancy agreements. Current legislation dealing with landlord/tenant relationships includes the 1919 and 1946 legislation dealing with notice and eviction processes; the 1946 legislation which allowed for the establishing of the Rent Control Tribunal and the 1993 Regulations providing the standard agreement which exempts parties from rent control. This new law is designed to provide a wider framework which will provide a legal basis for the development of fair, transparent, well-regulated agreements between landlord and tenant. The majority of the Working Party’s proposals have been adopted in the provisions of the draft law but during the course of further research and legal drafting other developments have occurred since the group reported in 1998. As a result some of the recommendations have been modified. It is also now proposed to carry out a further review of the current legislation dealing with landlord and tenant relationships. Proposals are also included in the Report with regards obtaining statistics and further information about the return of deposit monies and the use of the mediation scheme in the Petty Debts Court to resolve deposit issues. It is acknowledged that there has been a considerable lapse in time since the Working Party’s proposals were debated by the States so it is proposed to lodge this Report to inform the public about the proposed Residential Tenancy (Jersey) Law 200- before lodging a Proposition to take it to the States for debate. It is hoped to gauge public opinion on the new proposals : i) to provide clarity to the rôles of landlord and tenant; ii) surrounding the return of tenants’ deposits and iii) for a further review of the current legislation dealing with landlord and tenant relationships.
Resource Implications: Limited resources will be spent collecting statistics relating to tenants’ deposits issues and also revising the Standard Form of Written Contract for Exemption from Rent Control document issued under the provisions of the Dwelling Houses (Rent Control) (Standard Tenancy Agreement) (Jersey) Regulations 1993 and the standard tenancy agreements used by the Housing Department. Any further review of current legislation will require, in the first instance, additional research and a report to be written.
Action required: The Population Office Project Officer to send the Consultation Paper to the Greffier of the States and ask him to present it to the States as an “R” on 29th April 2008.
Signature:		Position:
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):