Action for Housing has said that Chief Ministers “should not get involved in the allocation of government housing.”

A statement continued:

“The Principal Auditor has revealed in his report that the Chief Minister was involved in the allocation of government housing. The Chief Minister has not denied these accusations and has responded by saying that he has only acted in clear-cut cases of serious risk and abuse and only intervening where the situation had been sufficiently urgent.

“This reasoning is not entirely true. We have many cases on our list which are extremely urgent; people in the Social A+ and the Medical A+ categories who have waited for years and continue to languish, yet the CM has not intervened for them. Yet, we are reminded of the case that Action for Housing denounced publicly in September 2021 in which a former homeowner was allocated a government flat thanks to the involvement of the Chief Minister.

"Previous homeowners who have had to sell their homes have to face an uphill struggle to become eligible to be placed on the housing waiting list. Some never become eligible, and those who do, must wait years before being given a government flat. This particular case did not have to wait and was not a vulnerable or urgent case as described by the Chief Minister. This was a case of blatant nepotism.

“Chief Ministers should not get involved in the allocation of government housing. The Housing Department's administration, HAC, is the body responsible for the allocation of government housing, and urgent and serious cases must be referred to and handled by the Housing Allocation Committee. These rules are set in order to remain fair for everyone and should not be broken or overridden.”