The new private rental sector legislation explained
3 Min Read
This article appears in issue 41 of Aurigny’s inflight magazine, En Voyage.
The States of Guernsey is set to roll out new housing standards legislation on 1 July 2025, marking a significant step forward in regulating the rental market and enhancing safety and welfare. Overseen by the Director of Housing Standards, the new legislation establishes a framework to ensure that rental properties adhere to essential standards for quality, safety, and living conditions.
For tenants, it means stronger legal protections, better living conditions and greater transparency. For landlords, it means new compliance requirements, registration and licensing obligations and the need to adopt best practices in property management.
So what will the new legislation look like?
Landlords must complete and submit a registration form within a prescribed timeline to the Director of Housing Standards to secure their inclusion in the Register for Landlords. Failure to register may result in a landlord being found guilty of an offence and liable for a fine. There is an obligation to re-register every three years.
A landlord who isn’t resident in Guernsey must appoint a Guernsey resident representative and provide details of that representative in the registration form.
Rental properties must meet fundamental safety and quality standards, such as structural integrity, functional plumbing, operational heating, and certified safety of electric, gas, and oil installations. Fire safety compliance is also a critical component of the standards.
Landlords must address any deficiencies to bring properties up to the required standards. Tenants have protection against substandard living conditions and can report instances of non-compliance to the relevant authorities.
The legislation categorises hazards into two key groups, hazards posing serious risks to health and safety (Category 1), and less severe hazards that still significantly affect health and safety (Category 2).
An authorised officer may inspect rental properties to assess their condition, state of repair, and adherence to minimum standards. If hazards from either category are identified, appropriate enforcement action may be taken. The legislation provides a variety of enforcement measures to address such issues, ensuring swift and effective responses to safety concerns.
Landlords renting Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) must apply for a specific licence and ensure their properties meet enhanced safety standards. These include adequate fire exits and sufficient bathroom facilities for tenants. Licences must be renewed periodically to maintain compliance.
The definition of an “HMO” is complex but generally refers to any dwelling in which three or more people live where at least one of them is not part of the same family as the others, and certain facilities (such as cooking facilities) are shared between them. Some “house shares” will be included in this definition, even if the landlord only lets the property to one person.
Guidelines under the new legislation also set limits on the number of tenants based on dwelling size to prevent overcrowding, which poses health and safety risks.
Landlords in particular should check that the terms of their current leases comply with the new legislative changes. In all cases, Babbé advises seeking legal advice.