Housing Authority selling properties in 13 localities
The Housing Authority said today it is putting up for sale 108 apartments and nine maisonettes in 13 localities, as well as a number of garages.
The properties will be sold in shell form, semi-finished or finished and the prices will be subsidised.
The apartments are located at Bugibba, Burmarrad, Kirkop, Marsaxlokk, Mriehel, Mtarfa, Naxxar, Pembroke, Qawra, Qrendi, Tarxien, Zebbug and Zurrieq while the maisonettes are in Mgarr, Mtarfa and Tarxien.
Eighty of the apartments have three bedrooms and 33 are two-bedroomed.
Education and Social Policy Minister Dolores Cristina and Housing Authority chairman Charles Borg said the Authority was seeking to cater for people with different needs, including single parents and people with disabilities, as well as young married and engaged couples and single persons aged over 21.
The average price for the three-bedroomed apartments is €83,000.while the three bedroomed maisonettes will sell for an average of €92,000.
The sale is open for all those who earn less than €35,000 annually and have assets of less than €40,000.
The properties will be open for viewing this weekend and the following between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Mrs Cristina also referred to other schemes managed by the Housing Authority, pointing out that last year it helped 417 people to repair or finish their first residence. 204 apartments were allocated to people needing alternative accommodation.The authority had also helped in the installation of lifts in housing blocks.
Further information on the properties for sale can be found at the housing authority website http://www.housingauthority.com.mt/
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26 Comments
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David Attard
May 14th 2010, 10:49
I totally agree with Frank Portelli also I think that some people still don't afford to buy a 92,000 Euro appartment lets not forget one still has to apply for a loan and in cases were the monthly salary of most applicants doesnt acceed 700Euro a loan will not be granted.
In these cases Rental is the only option if the gornment really wants to help.
Joseph Vella
May 14th 2010, 06:29
The Government should be focusing on many other important issues other than acting as a real estate manager! With that income benchmark set, 90% of Malta will qualify. If only everyone earned 35,000 euros!!!!
malcolm seychell
May 13th 2010, 19:23
The problem is that Min Cristina is an ultra socialist.
For her using tax payers money to give to others is a moral mission.
joseph dalli
May 13th 2010, 11:26
€35,000 annually??? this must be a sick joke....it is way too high and many people can easily qualify within this range !!!! It should have been at least €9000 annually!!!!
M.Mallia
May 13th 2010, 08:11
Statistics show that there are thousands of properties vacant. I assure you that more than half of them are rented out and declared as vacant. When this statistics is taken one should see how many utility metres are being used all under one name at one go. Contractors are not crazy. Who would risk there money for a flop.
S Agius
May 13th 2010, 07:27
The appartments should be rented not sold. Once Minister Dolores Cristina said that by selling them we are ensuring that people care for them more ! A solution to this would be simply to send periodic inspections and who is damaging the property made to lose the appartment. It is high time to be accountable with tax payers money instead of rewarding those who underdeclare their tax return.
Franco Grech
May 13th 2010, 07:14
The prices are just too high, most probably the price refer to shell apartments. I do not see the need for the government to place these properties on the market. At these prices there is no subsidy, the government is just acting as a competitor in the housing market. If you go to all estate agents and list property for sale under €100,000, you end up with 867 properties in Malta alone, now this list excludes property sold by owners direct. If I where the government I would stop putting this properties on the market and focus on providing subsidy to people in need, to buy from the private sector, after all the government makes a direct tax take of between 15.5% and 17% of the value of the property on each and every property transaction. Waiving that fee for people in need equals more than enough subsidy and the government would not need to go in the business of construction leaving more government land available.
malcolm seychell
May 13th 2010, 00:35
Very good point Dr Frank.
For me this should be common sense. It is madness to keep on building flats when we have thousands of vacant ones.
Jean Gove'
May 12th 2010, 23:27
Built from our taxes, subsidized by our taxes, but sold to high-earners (€3000 per month is way above normal wage in Malta). Great social housing!
ms g hoare
May 12th 2010, 17:48
YOU ARE WRONG K Pulicino you have to be 21 years old or more.
what i hope that happenes is that these properties are not sold to the like of some that buy to leave empty so it increase in value ,some of the Qawra ones are still empty 4 years on gathering dust ,
mario aquilina
May 12th 2010, 17:16
The 'People in Need' that the Housing Authority helps out, drive around in BMW's, 4X4's and have a boat in the Med.
In Qawra, some apartments that have been sold 6 years ago, subsidized to supposedly people in need, lays empty, bought as an investment. Others, have rented them out. They cry poor, at mine and yours expense.
Watch out for the contract that you will have to sign when buying these apartments, as it is not worth the paper that it is written on. Once you buy, you're on your own. Contrary to what is written in the contract, the Housing Authority does not take action against those who break the rules, and so be prepared to face the music alone.
Unkept common parts / animals and their pooh / garages under the blocks being used for commercial purposes / deaf ears.
j.camenzuli
May 12th 2010, 15:56
I can understand the selling part of these apartments but its puzzles me why the minister is subsidising the same sale from taxpayers money; after all these same apartments were build using taxpayers monies. Well minister say bye bye to my vote come the next election.
v Caruana
May 12th 2010, 17:12
are you serious in stating that you're not gonna vote PN next election? In three years' time you will change your mind and have second thoughts! (Like most who declare such remarks).
R.Gauci
May 12th 2010, 15:32
"The average price for the three-bedroomed apartments is €83,000.while the three bedroomed maisonettes will sell for an average of €92,000". Shell or Finished?
Anyway In both cases the prices are still high especially for people which have children, don't forget that these are suppose to be subsidised prices!! Halluna!
With these kind of prices you can buy directly from the private sector at a location and type of finishing you would like and without any kind of restrictions !!
B'min iridu jidhku il-Ministru u l-Awtorita??!!
mario spiteri
May 12th 2010, 15:31
@ tony abela
" Pity it was dormant since the mid -80's."
Edwin Mifsud hit the nail right on its head. Don't you remember those days Mr. Abela, when if a person had a small sum of money in the bank, he/should would NOT be in a position even to apply for "social housing"? We all know how many big plots were allocated to certain "needy" persons who built huge houses and now are selling these at big and hefty profits.
So let's keep on doing such injustices...spend every penny you gain or better still don't work at all, and you will be in a better position to get such housing.
tony abela
May 12th 2010, 15:16
@ B Sant & Edwin Mifsud. Yes the name of the game is 'Social Housing', and not a 'Speculators Game'. Pity it was dormant since the mid -80's.
Frank Portelli 2BFRANK
May 12th 2010, 14:55
If I could possibly make a suggestion
It has been reported that around 30% (approximately 50,000 dwellings) in Malta are permanently vacant.
Would it not make sense to see if some of these vacant properties are suitable for social housing?
The Housing Authority could rent or purchase some of these properties and utilize them for social purposes
Frank Portelli
Daniel Micallef
May 12th 2010, 16:27
Well Mr Portelli, that should be logical!
53,000 properties were said to be vacant in the last census, that is 2005. We are in 2010.
The Nationalist Government opted to enlarge the development zones in 2006 and we all know the building boom in recent years.
The worst thing is, the Authority is building these apartments, and selling them, leaving the government with less housing stock for future generations. The system is unsustainable.
Using government owned empty property and launching schemes to attract private owners seems to be rocket science for this government. The easy way out is build, sell, and make some profit to sustain your schemes (if you're lucky enough and not a victim of a scam such as San Lawrenz)
Dominic Vella
May 14th 2010, 12:23
These properties are empty for three reasons;
1. Malta's inheritance traditions mean that many are owned by 10 cousins who can't agree
2. No cost to hold i.e. without any council tax or similar, it is free to keep a property empty and hope the price goes up.
2. Unclear property rights legacy. Historical theft by government to give permanent peppercorn rent rights to sitting tenants still means Landlords distrust rental options
If even 10,000 of this 50,000 were made available, the price of all housing would come down and first time buyers would be able to afford a home. The problem is that the unearned 'paper' wealth felt by the population who own a home as prices increased each year has become addictive and they will punish any government who lets prices fall, as would the big Construction companies who lobby the government, as would the banks who are too concentrated in property loans. We're stuck with a massive Ponzi scheme until it inevitably collapses under the mathematics of exponentiality.
B sant
May 12th 2010, 14:52
do we really need another market player in this already crowded market?
Edwin Mifsud
May 12th 2010, 14:41
"The sale is open for all those who earn less than €35,000 annually and have assets of less than €40,000."
So the less you've worked in your life the more likely you are to get a flat. If you spend all your children's allowence on Bingo (rather than saving for a rainy day) it would also improve your chances.
Oh yeah!!! Get pregnant at 13 and say the father could have been any Tom Dick or Harry.
K Pullicino
May 12th 2010, 15:13
you're perfectly right Mr. Mifsud! apparently the government is giving incentives so that girls get pregnant pre-maturely. besides giving them money, bonuses and food, now he is giving them also apartments at reduced prices! and the majority of them didn't pay a penny of N.I. in their life!!
govt should child centers and send these girls for work (and don't tell me they don't find a job. they just don't want to work since the money given to them by govt is enough for them)!
I. Galea
May 13th 2010, 07:01
excuse me. i spent 18 years of my life studying for my career, and i now make less than 35000 a year. i want to get married, start a family, buy a car, and have roof over our heads...i'm working hard for it, but i've barely even made a dent.
so just because some people don't earn as much as you do, please don't assume everyone under the high pedestal you stand on is lazy and likes to leech off the government. Therefore, for the sake of not sounding as ignorant as you just did, i'd avoid statements like "the less you've worked in your life, the more likely you are to get a flat", if i were you.
Patrick Gatt
May 12th 2010, 14:36
The housing authority website hasn't been updated with this yet.
M. Mallia
May 12th 2010, 14:32
I have bought from ta' Dernis Ltd an apartment 3 bedroom in Zabbar for the Price of 70000 Euro with a washroom and part of roof. I think its a far better value for money.
Joe Borg
May 12th 2010, 14:18
Well, that should cover the cost of CityGate for the first year!!
Please choose the reason of your report below: