Call for rental property standard laws in Alderney

A recent report said 45% of all domestic property is privately rented

A politician in Alderney said he questions the "suitability" of some of the rental properties in the island.

A recent report by the States of Alderney showed that 45% of all domestic property is privately rented.

There are concerns however about what protections tenants and landlords have.

States member, Kevin Gentle said "we do not have, like Guernsey has just introduced, a general housing law, that protects tenants and landlords alike".

'Manage the burden'

Mr Gentle said that introducing an Alderney version of that law "could only be a good thing".

He added that a lack of suitable housing could be affecting the economy: "If we can't keep those younger people here, that we need to drive the economy forward, if we cannot entice those key workers that we need because they've got nowhere to live, then this island will become extinct."

Iain MacFarlane, chair of the Housing Working Group, agrees there should be some regulations in place but said they would "have to manage the burden for landlords as well".

"We wouldn't want them pulling properties from the market for fear of having to spend potentially thousands or tens of thousands of pounds on renovations," Mr MacFarlane said.

'Incentives'

The report also highlighted that more than a third of privately-rented properties were owned by people whose main address was not in Alderney.

That accounts for a sixth of all housing in in the island.

Mr MacFarlane said "there is a bit of a danger that we are a boom-and-bust island" where homeowners return to Alderney only for peak months.

He also acknowledged that there were a lot of properties that have been vacant "for many years" and that the government needs to look at "incentives for the homeowners and landlords to utilise their property and not just let them sit".