Tenants Voice Concerns Over States Housing Quality

Residents are urging improvements to the standard of States housing, characterizing their living conditions as “horrible.” Several tenants reached out to the BBC to voice their concerns, prompted by a previous report detailing insufficient property maintenance in Guernsey. Among these tenants was Kayleigh Steer, who expressed distress that her children reside in a property afflicted by “leaks, poor insulation and issues with mould and algae.” Peter Roffey, President of Employment and Social Security (ESS), stated that while he could not address specific cases, he was “not proud” of the current situation and acknowledged his limited capacity to act without additional funding from the States. Deputies declined a proposal for a £670,000 increase to the 2025 budget allocated for States house maintenance, resulting in ESS receiving approximately £7m for social housing upkeep next year. Ms Steer recounted that prior to her occupancy of the St Saviours property, the former owner housed pigeons there, leading to damage on the stairs. According to Ms Steer, upon her initial move-in, the hallway experienced flooding due to a door issue, and subsequent problems with the property’s quality have persisted. The main bathroom of the four-bedroom residence features a roof and windowsill covered in mould and algae, which Ms Steer attributed to the building’s quality, inadequate insulation, and an unaddressed bathroom leak by the States. She stated, “Our extractor fan leaks when it rains, I have a leak from my bathroom which is impacting the ceiling.” She added, “The salt is coming through the wall and the wallpaper is peeling off, and I’m told there is nothing they can do, without moving out.” She reported that despite her appeals to the States to resolve the issues, several problems continued to affect her and her children. Ms Steer remarked, “Jobs get left half done. I keep saying to them, you wouldn’t live like this. You wouldn’t allow your family to live like this, so why as I’m in a States house is it OK?” Her daughter, Amelia, commented: “It is horrible and embarrassing when our friends come around, it’s not because we are in a States house, it’s the state of our house.” She further stated, “It’s embarrassing for us as kids, and for our mum, we can’t let people use the upstairs bathroom as it’s genuinely embarrassing.” These criticisms coincide with scheduled debates this week concerning proposals to establish a new housing committee. Should Deputy Sasha Kazantseva-Miller’s proposals be approved, this new entity would be responsible for supervising the island’s affordable housing program, social housing, and the Guernsey housing plan. She asserted: “Housing has been the number one priority but we have failed to increase the rate of homebuilding and it has been the key economic barrier, we need to laser focus on building new homes, instead of dealing with four or five committees.” She added, “It will bring the scrutiny and the clear mandate and accountability.” Roffey opposes the formation of a new committee, arguing that it would not provide any additional resources for the committee. However, Kazantseva-Miller expressed disagreement. She contended, “It is misleading that we won’t have more resources.” She elaborated, “We will have non-States members and it will make things happen, instead of lots of high-level plans, and we will create a delivery plan for building 1500 homes Guernsey so desperately needs.”