10 March 2023
Islanders are being reminded of the support and guidance available for those dealing with, or
at risk of, homelessness.
An awareness campaign has been launched to further highlight the advice and help available
from Government services, and to emphasise the new definition of homelessness, published
by the Minister for Housing and Communities in October 2022, to which all Government
services now work.
Deputy David Warr’s definition covers four key situations:
- Rooflessness – without a shelter of any kind, described by many as “sleeping rough”
- Houselessness – with a place to sleep but temporarily in institutions or shelters
- Living in insecure housing – threatened with exclusion because of insecure tenancies,
eviction, or domestic violence.
- Living in inadequate housing – in caravans or illegal campsites, in unfit housing or in
extreme overcrowding
Islanders who are facing challenges associated with homelessness can get support from the
Government’s Housing Advice Service by registering online with the housing advice service or
by visiting the help desk at the Customer and Local Services building on La Motte Street. The
Service, which provides support for all aspects of housing and not just homelessness, can also be
contacted by emailing housingadvice@gov.je or by calling 01534 44 44 44.
Deputy David Warr said: “It’s incredibly important to me that our most vulnerable Islanders
can access the right help at the right time, and therefore I’m particularly keen to raise the
profile of the excellent work being done by the Housing Advice Service.
“The definition I published at the end of last year ensures that our frontline services tackling
homelessness are working to the same framework which will ultimately make our data
gathering more consistent. In turn, over time, this will give us a better understanding of the
true scale of homelessness in Jersey.”
The first set of homelessness statistics to be published by the Government since the new
definition was introduced will be released in the next few weeks.
gov.je