Oh dear, prices are falling

On October 8, The Times dedicated its entire back page to a publicity stunt by the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU entitled Property Crisis Looming.

The president of the GRTU's property section, Sandro Chetcuti seems to think that any worry being experienced by construction speculators and investors, because they cannot sell as well or as fast as they would like to, is shared by 99 per cent of the population. And, moreover, we are told, the government should now step in to protect these poor souls, against the laws of demand and supply, by taking various measures in their interest, dipping into public funds for subsidies or arm twisting the banks to be more lenient with loans. In this day and age, that's rich.

I am not competent to evaluate the claim that Housing Authority prices are sometimes higher than the private sector's but if there is an oversupply of residential developments the government can hardly be blamed for it at the same time.

When on March 18, 1969 as chairman of the Djar Għall-Maltin campaign, on behalf of the Maltese student body after a protest march in Valletta's main streets, I had submitted a memorandum on housing and land planning to Prime Minister Ġorġ Borg Olivier and Archbishop Michael Gonzi, our concern was that the average Maltese family or would-be family could no longer cope with the rapidly-rising property prices in a "boom" situation, partly fuelled by incentivised foreign residents. It was in that context that we had proposed a social housing programme, which was soon afterwards introduced, as well as greater attention to land planning and environmental conservation. With the advantage of hindsight, I dare say that student initiative during 1968 and 1969 was a pioneering and prophetic one.

To what extent has the situation changed since then? How far has the rural environment shrunk?

Property in Malta today costs more than what it does in various other countries in Europe and elsewhere, so much so that several Maltese are investing in property overseas. But, Mr Chetcuti tells us that "while the property supply grew, the demand did not".

So what? Investment is always risky and over-investment (or money laundering at a time of currency changeover) is more so. Not everybody may wish or can afford to reside in a seventh floor two-bed sit or relish the roof of a fourth floor penthouse apartment. The public is in no way bound to finance construction speculation further than it has already done by being constrained to pay through the nose for often ugly concrete block apartments and over-priced properties generally.

There is more, however. The GRTU's property guru also wants to destroy what is left of residential quarters in this tiny, noisy, dusty, generally dishevelled and grossly over-populated island, whose administration apparently has money for certain sectors but not for others and risks getting its priorities mixed up. As an encouragement to property speculators and investors, we are told, the government should now push for "mixed zoning". "The government should wake up and issue a legal notice to permit commercial operations, such as offices and small showrooms, in residential areas."

How disgusting. The thin end of the wedge. In return for quick profits, have property magnates sworn not to let anyone in these islands live in peace in what's left of them?

What the government should do is ensure that any new buildings all have wells and energy-saving devices in addition to underground garages, immediately permit a crematorium to spare arable land and farmers from cemetery extensions, abolish daylight robbery laws against property ownership and market value such as the 1979 one, and not repeat its 1996 electoral pledge to build some kind of airport on the "eco" islet of Gozo.