Social housing needs

The Constitution provides the right of residence to every Maltese citizen. Even in the new Constitution for Europe there is a proviso with regard to social housing.

"The Constitution for Europe says that in order to combat social exclusion and poverty, the European Union recognises and respects the right to social and housing assistance so as to ensure a decent existence for all those who lack sufficient resources, in accordance with the rules laid down by Union law, and national laws and practices" (The Times, April 27).

The demand for housing has always been a problem for the government.

State help for housing has never ceased, although it leaves much to be desired. Likewise, the Church, through its social commitment, has contributed to subsidised housing schemes.

Such a problem is further complicated when one considers the unjust rent laws which have long outlived their original purpose. The 1995 law, which liberalised rent agreements entered from that year on, did not help to alleviate the lack of housing units.

Many owners of dwelling houses do not trust this law because it does not guarantee the release of the rented property back to its owner.

Such an attitude towards social housing led to a number of abuses. It is a known fact that rented property devolved on the deceased's children who continued to live there, while they sold paraphernal property which belonged to their deceased parents for hundreds of thousands of liri, hence creating an injustice to the rented property's owners.

This is current practice in Gozo. Land and housing prices have soared. Government statistics are not reliable because they are derived from contracts of sale registered at the Public Registry. Unfortunately such contracts do not reflect the real price paid by the purchasers because it is the practice that the price declared is inferior to that actually paid in order to avoid paying the full duty on documents.

Properties in Gozo have become more expensive than in Malta. This may be due to the limited amount of land available for housing development. Consequently, it has become more difficult for newly wed couples to find a decent home to start a family.

Government housing schemes in Gozo are rare. The only units unoccupied are those still in shell form because no couples found them suitable since they are so cramped.

They were constructed in such a way that the building area would yield the most units possible, making them very small. Whether this is bad planning or a change of plans at the last minute is not yet known.

On the other hand, the Church is no longer in a position to provide housing units because it has transferred all its property to the government. Therefore the only alternative is to turn to private landlords who seek exorbitant prices.

Taking into account the limited financial resources of young couples, their only hope is through a bank loan. At this stage, the couples face an uphill struggle in that the bank would be demanding exhaustive particulars and details, coupled with lots of paperwork and parental guarantees, sometimes stifling the couples' chances to acquire their new home.

Having successfully passed the loan test, another hurdle consists of the expenses of plumbing and plastering, including materials and products. Such works involve costs that are no longer comparable with similar works in Malta.

This may be the result of the purchase of property by foreigners and Maltese who are well off and can afford to pay high bills. All this contributed to property prices rising by up to 75 per cent in one year (The Times, April 27).

These are some of the problems and difficulties faced with by young couples. Land speculators and owners have inflated the price of their properties, knowing that a bank loan is forthcoming.

Naturally this creates a vicious circle because no owner is ready to budge and to sell his property for less than his competitor.

While on the subject of housing, what about the non-existent sheltered housing for the elderly in Gozo? The only two projects which were developed to address this shortage were both private ventures: the dormant MAS (Social Action Movement) project in Ghajnsielem and the defunct project of the Home for the Elderly in San Lawrenz.

Statistics show that Gozo's population is aging and the demand for accommodation for the elderly is increasing. The Ministry for Gozo should pay attention to this sector and start planning for sheltered housing units.

Such units, in Malta, have proved popular with the elderly.