Charles Borg, chairman, Housing Authority, Valletta
Property prices and social housing
I refer to the article, Property Crisis Looming (October 8). The President of the Property Section of the GRTU made certain statements that are factually inaccurate.
Sandro Chetcuti is reported to have said that:
1. The government has allocated €20.9m for the construction of 300 social housing units and according to Mr Chetcuti, these funds should be redirected to incentivise and support the property speculators.
2. The property being provided by the government through social housing is "killing the property market and creating an economic crisis".
3. In certain cases, the prices of the units being supplied for social housing are even higher than those provided by the private sector.
One cannot understand how the excess supply in the local property market is a result of the government’s investment in social housing. This is an irresponsible statement and one seriously questions the credibility of the President of the Property Section of GRTU.
The government through the Housing Authority has a social responsibility towards those vulnerable people in the community who require social assistance to achieve certain basic needs and low-income groups who cannot afford an adequate accommodation. The government also has an obligation towards the young couples that are looking to buy their first property. This is why the government through the Housing Authority issues from time to time schemes that are advantageous to these applicants.
Mr Chetcuti surely recalls that the Housing Authority did launch an initiative together with the private sector in order to make available the excess vacant units in the private sector for social housing. Unfortunately however, this scheme was not successful due to the high prices requested by private owners.
The government should never use public funds in order to support property prices as recommended by the President of the Property Section of the GRTU. If there is a property crisis that is looming, as stated by Mr Chetcuti, the market will have to adjust itself and property prices will have to find their equilibrium.
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Benson Williams
Oct 15th 2008, 20:03
Property prices in Malta have gone beyond a joke now for so long that to my mind as i can forsee that they will come down quicker then a ton of Bricks. What hit Britain will aslo Hit Malta and Gozo, its a buyers market if you got the cash, but people are just not interested because they can shop around and look else where. Is alot better to sign up for a Long Let as oppose to buying which is just not feesable.. Buying is ok in Malta if the prices were decent and honest enough but SELLING boy thats a different story. No Chance.
Paul Smith
Oct 15th 2008, 12:39
The kind of property speculation that has gone on in Malta is completely unsustainable and will collapse unless prices come down to affordable levels, Malta is around 1 year behind the UK in the property curve, people like Mr. Chetcuti will unknowingly destroy the beast they have tried to create.