The Housing Authority over the past year sold 381 housing units at subsidised rates and transferred 81 other units to be rented out by the Department of Social Accommodation, parliament was told yesterday.

Parliamentary Secretary Antoine Mifsud Bonnici said at the opening of the debate on the annual report and financial estimates of the authority that the government was making substantial progress in tackling the housing problem, and the professionalism of the authority could lead one to be confident of further headway next year.

Over the past year the authority had operated various schemes to help those most in need of housing. It had issued 381 units for sale at a subsidised rate, following 182 issued three years ago, 215 in the year 2000 and 281 last year.

The criteria for people to become eligible for such dwellings had been improved. Car ownership and bank deposits of up to Lm15,000 were not considered in the calculation of applicants' assets. In the case of working couples, eligibility was open for those with an income of up to Lm8,000.

The authority over the past year also transferred 126 other housing units, costing Lm1.5 million, to the Department of Social Accommodation for rent to those most in need. Such people were also eligible for a rent subsidy and a grant of Lm500 each to install a bathroom.

The authority had also started a system of helping non-governmental organisations which were active in the housing sector. Lm25,000 each had been given to the YMCA, Suret Il-Bniedem Foundation, the Wens Foundation and Dar Nazareth. Apartments had been made available to the Richmond Foundation to better integrate persons with mental difficulties in society. Similar assistance was given to the Foundation for Social Welfare Services - Supported Living Division. A rent subsidy was also being given to people who needed accommodation after leaving children's homes.

The authority had also introduced a Care and Repair Scheme where persons referred by social workers as needing major repairs to their residences could be assisted so that they could continue to live in those residences.

The authority, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said, was not just waiting for applications, but its officials were also fanning out to seek those who most needed help.

Over the past year the authority had also raised, from Lm2,500 to Lm3,500, the financial aid it gave for repairs on dangerous buildings. Some 404 families had benefited from this scheme.

Improvement was also made in the grant offered to landlords to refurbish and rent out vacant premises. This sum had been raised to Lm3,500 from Lm2,500.

Tenants of rented government properties were also given assistance to buy those units at subsidised rates.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that for the first time, the Housing Authority was building a housing block which would have solar heating, while another block at Tal-Ftieh in Birkirkara would have solar water panels and photovoltaic cells to reduce power consumption.

He said the authority was currently building 290 residential units in four blocks in Floriana, Msida, Cospicua and Birkirkara at a total cost of over Lm6.7 million.

The authority also planned to install 29 lifts in government housing blocks to add to 14 installed this year, each costing Lm13,000. These lifts were especially beneficial for people with mobility problems whose quality of life was thus being considerably improved.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici said the authority had set up a committee to ensure there was transparency in its operation, and to consider appeals from decisions of the authority's commission. Over the past year, 120 appeals were filed, of which 41 were upheld.

Labour MP Marie-Louise Coleiro regretted that the authority's report lacked statistical information.

What had happened to long-standing plans for the amalgamation of the authority and the Department of Social Accommodation? It appeared that nothing had been done other than the alignment of the two organisations' points system for the allocation of premises.

The authority rightly had a quality service charter. Ms Coleiro said she could not complain about the customer care service, but the authority's work obviously went beyond that. It appeared that investigations by the authority into the assets of applicants for its schemes were taking too long. Since summer, the processing of applications seemed to be taking longer than before. Clearly the benchmarks set in the charter needed to be respected.

It was unfortunate, Ms Coleiro said, that some people still did not know about schemes they might be eligible for.

The Labour MP said more information needed to be given about response to the Care and Repair service, where the authority assisted persons referred to it by people such as social workers. This service needed to be efficient and people employed on this service needed to be sensitive to people's needs.

Ms Coleiro said there were discrepancies in this year's report with that issued last year over the number of apartments which were built last year and allocated this year, and the matter needed to be clarified. The same problem applied in the case of rented apartments. In the case of the latter, if was not clear what had happened to 63 units.

Duplication of figures could also be seen in the number of apartments for sale issued last month, which included apartments which were also issued for sale in November last year but were not taken up by the people to whom they were originally allocated. Given the high demand for housing, such apartments should have been allocated to the next in line, rather than having been kept vacant.

Whatever the real figures were, there were still 3,000 people waiting for social accommodation, a figure which was far higher than the units sold or rented by the authority.

These people had very low income, yet the issue of rented premises was still not a priority for the authority. The authority's schemes had helped many people, but they could not be attained by many more. The schemes, particularly that on house maintenance, needed to be reviewed to include premises built in the 1970s.

The schemes, after all, were meant to help people, not buildings. The rent subsidy scheme was useful, but some landlords were refusing to have anything to do with the authority. In many cases rents were still too high or the landlords did not want to issue receipts, thus making the tenants ineligible for the subsidies.

Various research projects showed how the price of property was rising fast. The problem of housing affordability was getting more serious, hence the need for government bodies to provide more housing units for rent and to make its assistance schemes more accessible. To have issued 81 units for rent last year was simply too little.

The authority needed to be more proactive. For example, it should push the government to legislate over domestic violence, which was leading several women and their children to live in shelters, even for years. What had become of the Rent Laws Revision Commission? When would the rent laws be further improved to boost the rental market, given the high number of vacant dwellings?

Following the Cesare tragedy in Floriana two years ago, Social Policy Minister Lawrence Gonzi had said the government would identify dangerous buildings and if no repairs were effected by the owners, such work would be done by the government at the owners' cost. What had happened since?

Ms Coleiro said that EU membership was likely to have an impact on the supply of housing in Malta

According to the government, in terms of an agreement reached between Malta and the EU, an EU resident who would have lived here for five years could buy as many properties as he wished.

Foreign students studying at the University of Malta would have to rent housing here during their stay. Had the authority assessed what impact this would have on the rental market, particularly the rental of apartments to Gozitan students?

Other speakers will be reported tomorrow.

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