Meeting social housing targets through the private property market

I refer to the letter by the chairman of the Housing Authority (October 15) on the controversy which has erupted over a proposal made by the Property Developers Division of the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU to the Ministry of Finance. The GRTU's proposal is that in the current situation where over 70,000 empty properties are available on the market it makes little logical sense for the government to spend over €22 million in fresh taxpayers' money to build additional housing units when prices are available on the market below or equivalent to those charged by the Housing Authority.

The GRTU Property Division's proposal is easy to understand and in no way is it anti-social as it has been described. It is a proposal aimed at saving taxpayer money, while the government pursues it social housing policy more efficiently and speedily. It is not a proposal to satisfy property owners. Where's the advantage when the GRTU is instigating developers to sell or rent at reduced prices?

The government's intention is to build an additional 300 housing units to add to the already excessive supply of 24,000 new housing units currently available on the property market. These additional Housing Authority housing units are estimated to cost up to €70,000 each (cost of construction and estimated cost of land) and will take a long time to be completed and allocated.

The Property Developers Division at GRTU can assure the Minister for Social Policy and the Board of the Housing Authority that the private sector is, given current market prices, in a position to provide these 300 units immediately at prices equivalent to what the authority intends to spend. Families that qualify under social housing rules will have availability of housing units spread in various parts of Malta and not on specific housing estates and without the delay caused by the tendering, construction and allocation process. Indeed the schemes that are being proposed by the GRTU will stretch the €22 million allocated by the government for social housing to enable the Housing Authority to provide more and be able to service more families in need.

The savings made by the Ministry for Social Policy can be utilised to address other acute needs, or other worthwhile causes.

What's so anti-social about all this? What's so wrong in making use of private initiative to resolve social problems? Does it always have to be at taxpayers' expense? May I assure everyone that GRTU members are requesting no funds and no assistance. All assistance that is being recommended will go to first-home buyers and to the deserving families who need it. The Property Division's proposals are aimed at facilitating the sale of property to those that need it and who up to some months ago could not afford it. They are not aimed at the abolishment of the provision of social housing through public funds. We believe that social housing expenditure should not operate irrespective of property market conditions reigning from time to time.

The GRTU has dealt with Minister John Dalli for more than 14 years. We know that he's a strong believer that where the private sector can be a better and more efficient provider, the public sector should make way. Social housing has reached the state where the private public partnership approach can now operate better. What's so wrong about this?

The GRTU's package of proposals presented to the Minister of Finance for inclusion in Budget 2009 incorporate practical ideas as to how the government can assist so that more apartments can be made available at affordable prices and under affordable financing schemes so that as many first-home buyers and families in need of housing units can meet their desire to own or rent apartments or houses at highly reasonable prices. We are also presenting proposals for public partnership to regenerate derelict urban areas and resolve problems that may ease the heavy stock of empty houses in urban areas. These proposals are all available on the GRTU website www.grtu.org.mt.

We would rather receive comments on these proposals than read comments on badly quoted statements supposedly made by Sandro Chetcuti, the President of the Property Developers Division at GRTU. The GRTU has for 60 years given a most enthusiastic contribution to the development of the Maltese economy within a socially correct framework. It has consistently proposed solutions and not mere criticisms.

The proposals that the GRTU is presenting for Budget 2009 offer solutions to many important issues affecting the Maltese economy. We would rather receive positive criticism on these wide-ranging proposals than puerile comments on single sentences.