Draft Residential Tenancy (Jersey) Amendment Law 202- (P.24/2025): fifth amendment
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STATES OF JERSEY
DRAFT RESIDENTIAL TENANCY (JERSEY) AMENDMENT LAW 202- (P.24/2025): FIFTH AMENDMENT
Lodged au Greffe on 26th August 2025 by the Minister for Housing
Earliest date for debate: 9th September 2025
STATES GREFFE
2025 P.24/2025 Amd.(5)
DRAFT RESIDENTIAL TENANCY (JERSEY) AMENDMENT LAW 202- (P.24/2025): FIFTH AMENDMENT
1 PAGE 51, ARTICLE 6 –
- In Article 6, new Part 3, for new Article 6G(2)(n) substitute –
(n) "tenant's illegality or nuisance", meaning that –
- the tenant has used, or caused or permitted the use of, the residential unit for illegal purposes; or
- both –
- the tenant has caused or permitted a repeated or serious nuisance in the residential unit or a repeated or serious interference with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of a neighbour of the residential unit; and
- the landlord has given written notice under paragraph (3) but the tenant has not corrected the nuisance or interference as requested by the notice; and
- In Article 6, new Part 3, for new Article 6G(3) substitute –
- A landlord's written notice under this paragraph must do 1 or both of the following, and request the tenant to correct the breach, nuisance or interference in that way, but everything requested by the notice must be reasonable –
- specify conduct that the tenant is to stop immediately; or
- specify action that the tenant is to take within a specified period of at least 7 days after receiving the notice.
2 PAGE 64, ARTICLE 14 –
In Article 14(4), for new Article 15(2)(g) substitute –
(g) whether the tenant has caused or permitted a repeated or serious –
- nuisance in the residential unit; or
- interference with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of a neighbour of the residential unit;
MINISTER FOR HOUSING
REPORT
During the policy development for Article 6G(2)(n)(ii) it was considered important for this provision to set a high threshold for instances of nuisance that would warrant Article 6F(1)(n) being applied as a reason for notice with a notice period of 7 days. This was why the "repeated or serious" qualifier is used in Article 6G(2)(n)(ii)(A) and why Article 6G(2)(n)(ii) requires a police or other enforcement officer to have attended the incident.
However, during the 9 July P.24/2025 debate, the Minister for the Environment expressed concern about the operation of Article 6F(1)(n), primarily due to the resourcing implications of requiring an enforcement officer presence. It is also worth noting that some submissions to the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel's public consultation on the Draft Amendment Law expressed concern about the necessity of police/enforcement officer attendance for this ground to operate.[1]
Further to subsequent consultation with Regulation Standards officers, an amendment to Article 6G(2)(n)(ii) is proposed that would:
• remove reference to police or other enforcement officer attendance;
• amend Article 6G(2)(n)(ii)(B) so that the interference with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of a neighbour of the residential unit is also repeated or serious;
• amend Article 6G(3) so that it also covers the landlord giving written notice requesting the tenant to correct a nuisance or interference by specifying the conduct that the tenant is to stop immediately and/or specifying action that the tenant is to take within a specified period of at least 7 days after receiving the notice (all of which must be reasonable).
This means that if a tenant were to cause a repeated or serious nuisance or interference, the landlord could issue the tenant with written notice under Article 6G(3) requesting the tenant to correct the nuisance or interference. This written notice would be required to specify one or both of the following:
• the conduct that the tenant must cease immediately;
• the (rectifying/remedial) action that the tenant must undertake within a specified period of at least 7 days after receiving the notice.
For the landlord to be within their right to issue written notice for the tenancy to end under tenant's illegality or nuisance (Article 6F(1)(n)), the tenant must not have corrected the nuisance or interference as requested by the notice under Article 6G(3). The tenant not having corrected the nuisance or interference would include instances where a tenant had initially ceased the conduct specified by the notice but then re-engaged in that conduct at a later date.
The requirement for a landlord to engage with a tenant by first providing a written notice under Article 6G(3) to the tenant to correct the nuisance or interference as requested by the notice before notice to end the tenancy can be served offers an appropriately high threshold for conduct to warrant Article 6F(1)(n) being applied as a reason for notice with a notice period of 7 days.
An important requirement for the operation of this proposed amendment is that the requests that the landlord makes of the tenant must be reasonable, meaning: it must be reasonable for the tenant to stop the specified conduct immediately (as according to the nature of the serious or repeated nuisance); any action that the tenant must take to correct the nuisance or interference must be reasonable; and the tenant must be given a reasonable time period (relative to the request) after receiving the notice to action this (which must not be less than 7 days).
For the avoidance of doubt, the requirement in Article 6G(2)(n)(ii)(B) for a landlord to give written notice under Article 6G(3) is aimed at serious or repeated nuisances or interferences as described under Article 6G(2)(n)(ii)(A). It is not the intention for tenants to be placed under undue pressure or uncertainty by a landlord requesting they stop behaviour that would not reasonably be (serious or repeated) nuisance behaviour or behaviour that would not reasonably be (serious or repeated) interference with the reasonable peace, comfort and privacy of a neighbour. Should this amendment be accepted and the Draft Amendment Law passed, detailed guidance will be produced on the operation of this provision.
This amendment incentivises landlords to give clear and specific written notice, making it clear what behaviour(s) needs to stop immediately, not to be repeated, and what actions must be taken to address the nuisance or interference. Offering this level of clarity is in the best interests of landlords and tenants, so there can be no margin for doubt for all parties concerned.
In cases where a tenant has caused several repeated or serious instances of nuisance or interference, when issuing the written notice under Article 6G(3), the landlord could specify in that notice one or several types or instances of such conduct, each of which amounts to a repeated or serious nuisance or interference. The notice may then request the specified conduct to stop and for action to be taken to address it, so long as what is specified in the notice is reasonable.
To clarify, if a tenant is issued written notice to stop specified conduct (that falls under Article 6G(2)(n)(ii)(A)) and then engages in other conduct (which would itself constitute a repeated or serious nuisance or interference), but that conduct is not covered by the original Article 6G(3) notice, the landlord would need to issue separate further notice under Article 6G(3) addressing that other conduct.
An amendment is also brought to Article 15(2)(g) to remove the reference to police or other enforcement officer attendance and require the interference with the reasonable peace, comfort, or privacy of a neighbour of the residential unit to be repeated or serious, to reflect the amendments to Article 6G(2)(n).
Financial and staffing implications
There are no new financial and/or staffing implications arising from this decision.
Children's Rights Impact Assessment
A Children's Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) has been prepared in relation to this proposition and is available to read on the States Assembly website.