Hazards found in 40% of inspected rentals in Jersey
Inspectors also visited more than 100 properties which had received complaints from tenants.They found 748 issues across those sites, also largely down to damp, fire and electrical problems.The report comes just after the states decided against voting on the housing minister's plans to re-write the residential tenancy laws, which he had claimed would improve the rights of tenants and landlords.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Scottish Sun
How you can claim up to £20K a year to help with kids during summer holidays
Do you know the Government will pay £2 for every £8 you spend on childcare HOLIDAY HELP How you can claim up to £20K a year to help with kids during summer holidays HAVING kids is expensive – and the financial pain only gets harder in the summer holidays. Summer clubs cost an average £1,075 for the six-week break, according to Coram's Holiday Childcare Report, so it's vital you claim all available support. Anna Stevenson, benefits specialist at Turn2Us, says: 'There are a lot of schemes to navigate and often people don't know where to start, but there is help there when you know where to look.' Mel Hunter considers what help you can apply for — and it's worth up to £20,247 a year. FREE CHILDCARE PLACES - up to £7,500 a year ALL families in England are entitled to 15 hours' free childcare a week for three and four-year-olds. Working families can also access some free childcare hours from when their children are nine months old. From September, eligible parents will be able to get 30 hours' free childcare a week from nine months until school age — but you need to apply by August 31. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have alternative schemes, so it's worth checking what applies for you. HOLIDAY ACTIVITY FUND - £720 THE Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme gives children from lower income families access to holiday activities, including a free meal. It is mainly for primary school children who receive free school meals. Three key benefits that YOU could be missing out on, and one even gives you a free TV Licence However, some councils keep places for other children considered in need. Anna says: 'Schemes like this, which are administered by the local authority, can go under the radar.' TAX-FREE CHILDCARE - up to £4,000 a year THE Government will pay £2 for every £8 you spend on childcare, capped at £2,000 per year per child (or £4,000 for a child with a disability). But around 825,000 of the 1.3million families who are eligible do not claim it. Anna says: 'People don't always realise that they can get help covering the cost of childcare once their kids are out of nursery, when they may be using after-school or holiday clubs.' CHILD BENEFIT - £1,355 a year THIS is paid to anyone with a child under 16, or under 20 if they are still in education. It is worth £1,354.60 per year for a family with one child and £2,251.60 per year for a family with two. It seems a no-brainer, but around £1.6billion in child benefit goes unclaimed each year. With child benefit, there is no cap so you can claim for as many children as you have. The level at which you are entitled to the full amount changed last year. Now you can get it if no one in your household earns more than £60,000, up from £50,000. If you earn between £60,000 and £80,000, you are entitled to some of it. If you earn more than £80,000, you are not entitled to any. It is still worth filling in the claim form, even if you do not want to get payments, to get National Insurance credits which count towards the state pension. UNIVERSAL CREDIT - £5,772 a year UNIVERSAL credit is the main benefit that can be claimed by families on a lower income, but the 1.4million households that don't claim could be missing out on an average of £5,772. You cannot get universal credit if you or a partner you live with have more than £16,000 in savings. But you may still be able to get it if you work. Mandy Jackson, a rights adviser with the charity Working Families, says: 'Anyone with a child should check if they are eligible.' SURE START MATERNITY GRANT - £500 THIS is a one-off payment of £500 to help with the costs of having a newborn in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. You can apply if you have no other children under 16 and you or your partner get certain benefits. If you live in Scotland, you can apply for a Best Start grant, worth up to £767.50. Designed to support families with young kids, it comes in three payments. FREE BREAKFAST CLUBS - up to £450 a year FREE breakfast clubs are being rolled out in primary schools across England. These give kids an extra 30-minute session before school where they get a free breakfast. If you are eligible for these you may be able to get help from your local authority during the summer holidays. Check to find out. My nursery costs are cut by £1,440 3 Sam Kennedy Christian is a coach who helps parents juggle work and childcare Credit: Suppleid MUM-of-two Sam Kennedy Christian is a coach who helps parents juggle work and childcare. Sam, 39, uses the tax-free childcare scheme and finds it very helpful. She explains: 'I started using it when [my daughter] Rose, who's now seven, started at nursery – and over the years it has saved us a fortune.' Currently, it cuts nursery fees for her son James, two, to £480 a month instead of £600 – saving £1,440 a year. The family has been getting 15 hours' free childcare for James each week, but that will rise to 30 hours in September. That will cut their bill by a further £240 a month. Sam, from Herne Bay, Kent, says: 'It's a lot to get your head around, but it's so worth it.' It can also be a godsend for clubs in the school holidays for Rose, Sam adds. With the average cost around £30 a day where Sam lives, she ends up paying £24 herself, with the rest covered by the govern-ment payment. Sam says: 'Saving £6 a day is very helpful. Over the summer, it will save us £60.' PENSIONS ARE TAX TARGET 3 Pensions will become subject to Inheritance Tax from April 6, 2027 Credit: Getty GRIEVING families will soon find the process of sorting out a loved one's finances much harder following a huge change to Inheritance Tax. The government has confirmed that pensions will become subject to Inheritance Tax from April 6, 2027. Currently, money left in your pension after you pass away can be passed on to a loved one without any need for them to pay Inheritance Tax. The Inheritance Tax rate is 40 per cent, and is charged on the estate – the property, possessions and money, of someone who has died – if it is worth more than £325,000. A loophole means many wealthy pensioners are using pensions as a way to pass down most of their money because they are so tax-efficient. The changes mean that this loophole will close – but experts have warned that it will pile pressure on grieving families. Inheritance Tax needs to be paid within six months, and usually before you can apply for probate. But tracking down pensions takes time, delaying the process of applying for probate. Probate is the legal process of dealing with a person's death, and it can take months to get it granted. Former pensions minister Steve Webb said: 'Life is tough enough when you have just lost a loved one without having extra layers of bureaucracy on top. 'It is hard to see how these changes will be good news for bereaved families.' ADELE COOKE STARLING ACCOUNT UPSET 3 Starling bank will no longer let its users open a second current account Credit: Reuters ONLINE bank Starling has shaken up its current accounts, causing a big stir among customers who are desperate for the change to be reversed. The bank, which has more than 4.6million UK customers, will no longer let its users open a second current account. Starling previously let customers open an extra everyday bank account, free of charge. Savers raved about the perk because it was a great way for them to manage their money. But the digital bank has told The Sun it has temporarily stopped allowing customers to open additional accounts while it 'improves our account offering'. It quietly suspended additional accounts last year, and clients have been calling on the bank to bring back the feature. One customer posted to X this week: '@StarlingBank when will additional accounts be back? I had one and would like to enable it again.' Another posted in January asking: 'Can I create a second personal account in @StarlingBank?' One customer said on Reddit: 'I'm sure it used to be a thing when I first started with Starling, but now I get 'you've reached your personal account limit' with one account, and 'you're not currently able to apply for this account' when I go to open a Personal Additional.' Starling said: 'Customers are still able to apply for a joint account, provided both are Starling customers. 'Joint accounts are limited to one per customer.' BLATHNAID CORLESS
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
Swindon council says rough sleeper numbers have not increased
A team tasked with tackling rough sleeping in a town insists overall numbers of people sleeping on the streets have not gone Eddolls and Becky Davison, who work with rough sleepers in Swindon as part of the council's support team, said their last count showed around eight people sleeping rough on 9 June. According to the council, this was in line with figures from 2024, with rough sleepers counted a few times throughout the year. Swindon Borough councillor Janine Howarth, who is responsible for housing, said: "It's not got any worse - what you see some of the time is people who are actually begging on the street, they're not actually rough sleepers who need our help." Ms Howarth said this could lead to the public perception that numbers had increased."We do still work with these people but they may already have a house or a place to stay," she said."They will come out because of the situation they are in and they will beg for whatever reason."What we want people to do, instead of giving people on the street money, is to actually give it to places like The Haven or Booth House that actually deal with them." 'Build trust' It comes after government figures found rough sleeping in England went up by a fifth last year compared to 2023. Asked whether they saw the same number of rough sleepers each time they went out, Ms Eddolls and Ms Davison said "it varies" - often depending on things like the weather. They also said the rough sleepers they were trying to help were often dealing with "complex trauma".Ms Eddolls, who is the rough sleeper manager, said: "We'll come across somebody - not every time - and they're really receptive. "It might be their first night out and they're really keen for the support and they want us to tell them where to go and signpost them."Other times it takes a long time to build trust."She added: "They don't trust the people closest to them, let alone strangers, so we have to go out again and again and again before they can even build that relationship with us."Ms Davison, who also has personal experience of rough sleeping, said: "Sometimes that trust is broken and rebuilt over multiple times. "Some of the individuals we come across we've known for an awful long time."
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
Temporary housing plan for student flats in Leicester approved
Plans to convert an empty seven-storey block of student flats in Leicester into temporary accommodation have been given the building in York Street, which comprises of 134 self-contained flats, has stood vacant since to turn the building into 118 units to "alleviate some of the short term homeless need" in Leicester were approved by the city council on Wednesday.A report said the flats would offer temporary accommodation for single people and a limited number of couples who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. All referrals will be made by the authority, and, according to the report, occupants will be offered tailored support to meet their needs and to help them move towards permanent Burgin, Leicester City Council's director of housing, previously said: "We don't want people to be in unsuitable B&B accommodation for any length of time, but with increasing numbers of people facing homelessness we have few options available to us."This building will provide good quality units with cooking and washing facilities which are not available in hotels and B&Bs, and will house people for between three and 18 months before they move on to permanent accommodation."
