Landlords raise concerns about new housing laws
Changes included a new Director of Housing Standards and giving the committee regulatory powers on hazards and minimum standards of homes.
President of the Landlords Association, Jeff Guilbert said: "I think this will just tip quite a few more over the edge and they're just going to leave the industry.
The President of the Environment and Infrastructure said that "modernisation of the legislation has been needed for sometime."
Mr Guilbert said: "We haven't got new blood coming into it. It's not a financially advantageous business to be in at the present time."
As of 3 March 2024, The Landlords Association represented 317 landlords with 2,412 units of accommodation plus 38 houses in multiple occupancy (HMOs) with 204 beds.
Despite concerns, Deputy CEO of Citizen's Advice Guernsey, Annie Ashmead said: "The people who come to us are reporting living in sub-standard accommodation, properties poorly maintained, damp, mould, ingress of water.
"Although they may represent a small minority of the number of people who rent on this Island - they are still people.
"We have on average around 40 people a year reporting issues with the housing conditions they live in and it needs to be addressed."
The President of the Environment and Infrastructure, Lindsay de Sausmarez said: "This modernisation of the legislation has been needed for sometime."
Some people have raised concerns online about the scope of the new legislation.
One user said they felt a landlord "now has the legal right to rifle through your personal belongings anytime to see if any of your possessions might be hazardous to you."
Deputy de Sausmarez responded by saying: "I don't know what to say about this one. It's just not right. There's nothing right about that at all."
Islanders had questions about the powers the new director would have to enter their property, what work they could request them do to their property and the right to go through tenants' belongings.
Deputy de Sausmarez said: "The Director or Inspectors can only take reasonable actions where they can prove, they can demonstrate to the satisfaction of a court that the action is entirely necessary and appropriate."
The draft law needs to get royal assent and go through procedural processes before it can be fully introduced in Guernsey law.
Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.
States approves more regulation of landlords
'My landlord's going to have to take us to court'
Islanders invited to have say on renters rights
States of Guernsey - Housing Standards Legislation
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Discarded fireworks damaged two homes in Lee's Summit, no injuries reported
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Overnight, the Lee's Summit Fire Department responded to several fireworks-related fires. Crews were dispatched to a reported structure fire near SW Summit Hill Drive and SW Pacific Dr. after smoke alarms alerted a resident to a fire burning outside the house. Wrong-way crash in KCK leaves one person dead, 5 others injured When firefighters arrived at the scene they found flames near the garage door that had spread up the front of the home and were beginning to burn through the roof's eave into the attic. Everyone was safe outside the home. The fire outside was quickly controlled, while crews worked to put out the flames that had spread into the attic and garage. Most of the damage was confined to the exterior of the home, but there was minor smoke and water damage inside. The cause of the fire was found to be fireworks that were discarded in the trash next to the house. Earlier Friday evening fire crews responded to a structure fire near NE Independence Avenue and E. Chipman Road where residents reported smoke in the basement. When firefighters arrived, nothing was visible from the outside, but they discovered and extinguished several floor joists that had been burned. An investigation found that fireworks had been discarded in the window well that caught dried grass on fire that spread into the basement through the window. In addition to these two house fires, fire crews dealt with a number of debris fires caused by improperly discarded fireworks. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Attack by homeless man in L.A. leaves woman, 52, with broken nose, concussion
A woman brutally assaulted by an alleged transient in Los Angeles' Los Feliz neighborhood is calling on city officials to do more to keep residents safe. The violence unfolded on June 18 when Donna DeChristopher, 52, was walking home from running errands in what she describes as a normally safe, walkable area near her residence on Sunset Drive. The 52-year-old spotted a homeless man that she's seen in the area and believes lives in a nearby encampment not far from Thomas Starr King Middle School. She says the man, described as a Hispanic male in his 20's, ran up to her and punch her in the face at least three times before she went unconscious. The 52-year-old, who said she suffered a concussion, a broken nose, complications with her eye and psychological street from the traumatic assault, said she may have been hit again while she was on the ground and blacked out. 2 brothers reported missing found dead off California highway Fortunately, a Good Samaritan who witnessed what happened came to help her. The 52-year-old is now calling on the police department, the district attorney and city leaders to do more to prevent these attacks, especially since there are children in the area who attend the nearby middle school. 'I know that so much is going on right now, but this should not be falling through the cracks,' DeChristopher told KTLA News. 'If this happens to me, I'm vocal. I don't want this to happen to anyone else. Who else has he attacked that he has hurt that is too afraid to come forward? Who is he going to hurt the next time he's out on the streets?' Councilmember Nithya Raman, who represents DeChristopher's district released the following statement: 'While our work has yielded results, including a 40% drop in the number of people living on the streets in our district last year, much more remains to be done and we will continue to deploy every resource available toward address this issue.' Just days after she was attacked, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested a homeless man believed to be DeChristopher's attacker, who has reportedly trespassed onto properties in the area. The man had a previous warrant out for his arrest and is currently being held without bail. KTLA has reached out to the district attorney's office for confirmation, asking if that arrest is linked to DeChristopher's assault and, if so, what charges he will likely be facing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hypebeast
12 minutes ago
- Hypebeast
Lorde's 'Virgin' Debuts at No. 2 on Billboard 200
Summary Lordeopens this week'sBillboard 200at No. 2 withVirgin. Her latest studio effort debuts with a total of 71,000 equivalent album units, including 42,000 in album sales, 29,000 in streaming equivalent album units (37.07 million on-demand streams of the songs) and the rest in track equivalent album Lorde's fourth top 10 effort followingSolar Powerin 2021,Melodramain 2017 andPure Heroinein 2013. Other new appearances this week areKATSEYEwithBEAUTIFUL CHAOSat No. 4 andRuss'W!LDat No. 10. Meanwhile, the rest of this week's top 10 are made up ofMorgan Wallenat No. 1, theKPop Demon Hunterssoundtrack at No. 3 andKarol Gat No. 5. The bottom half features Wallen again at No. 6,SZAat No. 7,Playboi Cartiat No. 8 andSabrina Carpenterat No. 9.
