Brave action needed on property prices

Hats off to John A. Consiglio for his article The Real Main Issue Behind Working/Non-working Mothers (October 21).

Dr Consiglio rightly pointed out that one of the, if not the main reason, for the situation we are in "whereby practically all young married couples are finding it impossible not to have to work both of them, including practically immediately after their babies are born, is the cost of housing".

Dr Consiglio, of whom I have very good memories when both of us were in our early teens, pinpointed "the obscene profiteering and pricing-out-of-the-air practices that are going on in that (property) sector". He also lambasted the "policy-makers" who are refraining from "accepting to carry such responsibility... by allowing speculators, developers, estate agents, architects, so-called planners, Mepa etc... to continue revelling in whatever they are doing". You can say that again, John!

In three letters which I wrote in The Times (April 29 and July 17, 2006) and another Sunday newspaper, I opined that the "modern" prices of property "are turning the lives of so many young people into a life of slave-labour for the rest of their working lives... that is if they outlive their payment period". Dr Consiglio has confirmed this. He went on to write that "if the property market were to become a strictly-for-Malta affair (although I cannot see how this can be done as long as Malta remains in the EU - perhaps Dr Consiglio can elaborate on this point) ripple-on beneficial effects of reduced property prices" would bring about a reduction in "our persistently cancerous inflation growth".

I too believe that if our politicians would come out with brave, innovative propositions to ensure that property prices are reduced to acceptable levels, considering the average income of Maltese employees, this would be the best road to take to ensure that "our children will have a sound future and overcome numerous hurdles" as Dr Gonzi wrote in his budget speech.

Pious words will not help "our children" from overcoming their main hurdle in life, which is the obscene prices of property. Only "brave and innovative" actions by the politicians can do this, as Dr Consiglio has pointed out.