Accommodation regulations for children (FOI)

​Request

With regard to sleeping accommodation for children, what policies apply with regard to same or different gender children related to their age in:

A

Social housing

B

Private housing accommodation

C

Lodging houses

D

Registered tourism premises

E

Residential care homes

F

Any other accommodation

G

Which States departments or bodies such as Gateway or Andium or Social Security and Environment or Children's Services or any others operate such policies. What are they? And how, under what legislation, are these regulated and administered?

Response

With regard to sleeping accommodation for children, the policies which apply with regard to same or different gender children, related to their age, in different accommodation types are as follows:-

A

Social housing - Any child under the age of five must share a bedroom regardless of their sex. Once the eldest child is five they would qualify for their own bedroom if their sibling was of the opposite sex. If there is five years or less between two same sex children, then they would have to share a bedroom regardless of their age.

B

Private housing accommodation - Any child under the age of five, if part of a claim or application for Income Support, must share a bedroom regardless of their sex. Once the eldest child is five they would qualify for their own bedroom if their sibling was of the opposite sex. If there is five years or less between two same sex children, then they would have to share a bedroom regardless of their age.

This applies only to private housing accommodation where the household has an Income Support claim. For other private housing accommodation, refer to G below).

C

Registered Lodging Houses - with regard to properties registered under the Lodging Houses (Registration) (Jersey) Law 1962, there are no separate policies which apply with regard to same or different gender children related to their age, other than those detailed in G below).

D
Registered tourism premises - With regard to properties registered under the Tourism (Jersey) Law 1949, there are no policies which apply with regard to same or different gender children related to their age.

E

Residential care homes - the standards applied state that each child / young person should have their own bedroom with an area for private study and access to either an en-suite bathroom or nearby private bath / shower facilities. The standards are enforceable under the Care and Regulations (Jersey) Law 2014.

F

Any other – Unknown

G

The Public Health and Safety (Rented Dwellings - Minimum Standards and Prescribed Hazards) (Jersey) Order 2018 takes into account hazards associated with lack of space and crowding. This applies to all rental accommodation. The Environmental Health Department administer this Law, which is available to view online at Jersey Law. The Department uses the UK guidance on room and space standards as guidance, which takes into account a child’s gender from certain ages. However, an assessment is made on individual circumstances.

The Housing Gateway, Andium Homes and Income Support all apply the same policy for sleeping accommodation. Any child under the age of five must share a bedroom regardless of their sex. Once the eldest child is five they would qualify for their own bedroom if their sibling was of the opposite sex. If there is five years or less between two same sex children, then they would have to share a bedroom regardless of their age.

The room standard

The room standard is based on the number and gender of people who must sleep in one room. The room standard will be contravened in a situation where two people of the opposite sex must sleep in the same room. The exceptions to this rule are:

• co-habiting or married couples, who can live in the same room without causing overcrowding

• children under the age of 10, who are completely ignored in the calculation

• no two persons, over 10 years old, of opposite sex should have to sleep in the same room (unless living as a couple). This does not allow for couples to have a room to themselves - the standard would not be breached if the mother slept in the same room as the daughter and the father with the son

All living rooms and bedrooms are included in the calculation (this could include a large kitchen). However, the standard does not limit the number of people of the same sex who can live in the same room (but see 'the space standard', below).

The space standard

The space standard is based on the number of people who may sleep in a dwelling of a particular size. The number of people depends on the size of the room, the number of living rooms and bedrooms in the building and the age of the occupants. There are two ways of calculating the space standard.

Method 1

Method 2

For both methods:

• children under 1 year old are ignored

• children under 10 years old but not under 1 count as a half

• rooms under 50 square feet are ignored

• a room is counted if it is either a living room or a bedroom

There is no guidance about how a room should be measured. Environmental Health have the power to enter premises to take measurements on giving 24 hours' notice.