Guernsey Press

Housing licence refusal 'against human rights'

A FATHER fighting for his family to remain in the island claims the Housing Department has breached his human rights.

Published

A FATHER fighting for his family to remain in the island claims the Housing Department has breached his human rights.

Christopher Forrest has appealed against the department's decision to refuse him a housing licence which would enable him to become a qualified Guernsey resident.

The Cable and Wireless employee, who is being made redundant, has lived in the island on licence for five years with his wife and two children. But the original licence has expired.

In the civil court hearing, Mr Forrest's Advocate Abby Lund argued that Housing's refusal was an 'unreasonable exercise of its powers' and was in breach of Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The department has argued that granting Mr Forrest a licence would set a precedent and that, from evaluating his financial circumstances, the family could rent open market accommodation for five to seven years until his children had finished their studies.

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