States members voted 37 to five in favour of the plan which has been designed to control the size and make-up of the island's population.

People will now come under categories of: entitled, licensed or registered.

Senator Frank Walker of the Policy and Resources Committee said the policy would reduce bureaucracy and give more people access to better accommodation.

He said it was a compromise between giving greater rights to people from outside Jersey whilst ensuring the housing market was "not flooded".

Some members wanted to delay the debate so more work could be done on border controls, in order to tighten up on those able to enter the island. But that was rejected by a wide margin.