Jersey’s consideration of rent control is a great opportunity for the people of the Isle of Man, according to the Manx TaxPayers’ Alliance.
“The introduction of rent controls would be terrible for humans in Jersey who require homes – and may offer a boost to investment in the Isle of Man,” said Michael Josem of the Manx TaxPayers’ Alliance. “Short of dropping bombs, there’s no better way to harm a housing market than ham-fisted efforts by meddling politicians to introduce rent control.”
“The fact that the Jersey Government appears to be seriously considering the introduction of rent controls is a sign that their politicians cannot be trusted. This represents a massive sovereign risk to investment in Jersey, and such dumb policies will likely benefit the people of the Isle of Man by redirecting investment from Jersey to the Isle of Man.”
Rent controls have been repeatedly proven to cause harm to people who need homes by discouraging people from supplying housing. Rent control benefits entrenched incumbents who have housing, to the detriment of people who want to obtain housing. Rent controls exacerbate housing crises by discouraging people from providing housing to people who need housing.
“Humans require housing. If you are looking to grow a business with humans, or grow a family with humans, then policies like this are a sign that you should move away from Jersey and come to the Isle of Man,” said Josem.
“It is difficult to imagine that Jersey will introduce such a bone-headed policy to harm its own people. But if Jersey does so, the Isle of Man and other jurisdictions have an opportunity to capitalise on such self-inflicted harm.”
There are only two sustainable ways to make housing more accessible: either increase the supply of housing, or decrease the demand for housing.