New conditions for redemption of groundrent on government properties
The government is to introduce new conditions to a scheme for the redemption of the groundrent of government properties so as to deter speculation, Parliamentary Secretary Jason Azzopardi said this morning.
He said the scheme was suspended at the end of January in order to clear a backlog of applications and introduce new measures to prevent abuse and speculation.
The scheme was originally introduced for former Church-owned property and then extended to all government-owned properties used as residences.
Since its announcement in 2002, the scheme attracted more than 5,000 applications and in view of the extensive verifications needed, there is currently a backlog of 3,000.
“For this reason, the scheme has been temporarily suspended and no new applications are being received,” Dr Azzopardi said.
He said the Government Property Division was using this opportunity to create a database of the pending applications in chronological order.
The pending applications would be considered according to new parameters, including increased checks to ensure that the properties were really used for residential purposes. The controls would include evidence from the electoral register, water and electricity bills and inspections.
In terms of another new condition, the property must continue to be used as a residence by the owner for 20 years after the sale or redemption of the ground rent and there cannot be any speculative development,” Dr Azzopardi said.
Should a property be sold, a percentage of the proceeds would have to be given to the Government Property Division. That percentage would follow a scale according to the time that would have passed since the emphyteusis would have been redeemed. The percentage would vary from 10% to 25%.
Dr Azzopardi said the reform’s ultimate aim was for greater efficiency and to discourage speculation of government property. It would also ensure that the Church-State agreement on the transfer of Church property to the State could be fully respected. The agreement had laid down that Church property was being transferred to the state for social purposes.
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Amanda Pace
Feb 26th 2009, 22:12
We too bought a house at the going rate. We had checked with the Joint Office about the redemtion conditions. Now, dear Jason decided to IMPOSE new conditions throwing people's monies and investments down the drain. Thanks Jason we will also redeem our votes because we can never vote again a party that has no social conscience.
mark zammit
Feb 26th 2009, 18:22
Unbelievable! We too bought at the going rate at the time, and certainly not at a 'social' rate! Why should the Government take a percentage of the proceeds in case of sale?
Ms Marija Jervis
Feb 26th 2009, 15:13
First of all I applied to redeem two and a half years ago! Now this bombshell! I find it hard to stomach that I have to donate up to 25% of the sale price to the Government especially since I will be fortunate to recoup the price I paid and all my expenses. I did not speculate, I bought at the going rate at the time. The land is now Government property but before that it was Church property and some or most of that was donated by the public! It would appear that the Goverment are moving the goalposts to suit them. What about the price Tigne was sold / leased for and Manoel Island etc. When one applies for redemption, one has to provide one's contract, which contains the price paid. Not everyone bought a bargain and sold on for profits. Surely the Goverment should take this into account? I feel as though my rights have been completely taken away from me. Years ago when I bought my property I was assured / led to believe I could redeem the freehold. So, it;s taken years to realise that the Joint Office is working at a snail's pace!
L..Galea
Feb 26th 2009, 12:51
Simply incompetence of having such a backlog going back so many years.
Can we know how many persons are employed in the respective department working on this issue and what wages were paid to them over all these years?
In my opinion, this is nothing else than another exercise in finding another way to steal money from taxpayers.
What has ground rent redemption got to do with speculation?
And why is ground rent not done away with?
I cannot understand why you BUY the land and then the owner imposes a ground rent effectively meaning that you are not the owner of the land you bought. This is a contradiction since either I am the owner of the land I've bought or not.
Can the MPs get their act together and remove the inconsistency and contradiction of ground rent with ownership and prevent further impositions of ground rent?
Joe Gatt
Feb 26th 2009, 12:36
I'm impressed by the government's efficiency in processing the applications. 'More than 2000 applications' since 2002 and yet there is a backlog of 3000!
What's happening? Are the applications breeding in some bureaucrat's filing cabinet?