Authority to buy Lm3m worth of vacant property

The Housing Authority has earmarked Lm3 million of its budget to start buying up vacant property across the island's urban cores.

This is the first time the authority is focusing its attention on urban cores. The idea is to purchase about 100 units that it can use for its various social housing initiatives, including that of shared ownership, authority chairperson Marisa Micallef said in an interview.

Data from the 1995 census show that Malta has a growing problem of vacant properties, with 22,756 premises lying idle for years on end.

"The authority is conscious of the concentration of vacant units in certain localities, either in urban cores or in tourist areas like the north of Malta and Gozo," said Ms Micallef.

"We are particularly interested in vacant properties in urban cores, partly because that is where there is the largest housing need as well as the greatest concentration of substandard housing.

"The main aims of the authority as defined in the Housing Authority Act are to promote home ownership, as well as to improve housing conditions. This new initiative therefore fits very well into our core aims."

This project will be launched before the year is out and the authority is in the process of establishing the conditions and property it will be prepared to invest in.

"Ideally, we are looking for property in village cores from Cottonera, Valletta, Floriana and Hamrun among others. We are not looking for large complexes, but smallish blocks of apartments," she said.

The authority is not interested in buying tourist accommodation and while it was prepared to buy finished apartment blocks, it was also willing to pay for older houses and convert them. Whatever the property, the rates have to be acceptable, Ms Micallef said.

"We have a different philosophy - we do not want to create slums. We believe in having housing stocks of a certain quality and standard," she added.

Ms Micallef said that the 100 units will be issued depending on the property's suitability and use. The shared ownership scheme, under which applicants have been offered the chance to partially own their home, had already proved extremely popular so the authority intended to increase the supply available within this scheme.

"We are trying to step up the supply of housing units available. We are also eagerly awaiting the transfer of some Joint Office land to be transferred to the authority. If this materialises we can be in a position to provide another 700 units over the next four years," she said.

"Our priority is boosting the supply. There is complete consensus on the need to do this and also make the best use of our resources and land. Many find housing out of reach, so there has to be an alternative."

Ms Micallef pointed out that though renting was an option, she questioned what would happen when the tenants retired.

"Rent is not a solution. How would they pay for the rent if they don't have a job? At least if you get a home loan, it will be paid by the time you retire," she said.

Apart from this, there also needed to be a culture change when it came to winning the trust of landlords to rent out their property to the authority for 10 years.

"We had a very disappointing response to our recent television campaign to entice landlords to rent out their property to the authority. The power of requisition and past track records means that landlords still find it hard to trust the government."