Opposition spokesman on housing Roderick Galdes accused the government of lacking an established policy while the Housing Authority lacked direction on social housing.

Speaking on the motion for the House to approve the authority's estimates, Mr Galdes expressed concern that the waiting list for social housing had increased from 2,600 cases to some 2,800 families.

He described the Housing Authority as one carrying substantial social responsibility, bound to provide not only affordable but also dignified housing. He called on the authority to foster a social conscience in fulfilling its remit.

Social housing had always been a core principle for the Labour Party, and the authority was benefiting from the housing stock that had been stimulated by action taken by various Labour governments.

Mr Galdes said former Social Policy Minister John Dalli, during last year's debate, had commented on the note to the audited accounts which indicated that the auditor could not fathom out how the figure of €65 million, related to building and development of housing projects, was arrived at. Despite the commitment made to Parliament for this to be sorted out, a year later the auditors had entered the same note. This impacted on transparency.

He asked whether any alternatives had been provided to make good for the schemes stopped by minister Dalli. He noted that the equity sharing scheme had been stopped on the basis that it was not well thought out and was not effective. Yet applicants had not been offered any other alternative once the scheme was suspended. He questioned whether social housing had been used as an electoral gimmick.

The right-to-buy scheme had been brought to an abrupt end rather than addressing abuse. He saw nothing wrong with the scheme, and the price established in this respect was to reflect the length of time persons had occupied the premises as well as their social needs.

Turning to the lack of response for the latest call for the sale of housing units, Mr Galdes said that in some cases it pays would-be buyers to acquire property from private developers rather than from the authority.

He suggested it would be wise for the authority to consider a public-private partnership now, when the property market was unstable. Despite experiencing a severe recession, other countries were still investing heavily in social housing. The authority would do well to consider those families that were experiencing uncertainty as to their future income, and were threatened with loss of breadwinner's employment.

As a consequence of the amalgamation of departments, the building and construction maintenance department had been dismantled, bringing about more bureaucracy while the department's work was passed to private contractors. He criticised the amalgamation as not having addressed maintenance of the condominia and investment in housing estates, leading to dilapidated properties.

Mr Galdes said that the government had promised assistance to vulnerable persons and to the elderly who were affected by the rent increase following legislative amendments. He said the government had committed itself to assisting through subsidies the elderly whose rent had been increased to €185.

But when persons sought information, the authority had informed them that this subsidy was available only to those who paid more than €185, even if this increase had brought about a substantial change to their rent.

Other rental financial assistance offered by the authority also lacked direction, with applicants being asked to pay the rent due without being told the amount of subsidy that they would receive.

Mr Galdes commented that the authority had acted in a very centralised manner and was not in touch with local councils or the needs of localities.

He referred to the numerous requests made by the Floriana local council, and criticised the authority for not adequately addressing the difficulties of sub-standard housing in Floriana.

The authority was not adequately addressing those families in relative poverty, and was not making use of available aid to make housing units accessible.

Although a few of the authority's board members had some experience in housing, the board lacked members who also carried out research in housing. He said that boards were not to be made up of persons with political allegiance to the government of the day, but of persons who had the know-how, experience and academic qualifications.

Concluding, Mr Galdes thanked the authority's employees who had consistently worked well, and while noting that some employees had become demoralised , he insisted that the authority ought to seek more synergy.

Marie Louise Coleiro Preca (PL) criticised the government and the Housing Authority for failing to give proper attention to the housing and social accommodation sectors, which were of paramount importance to people's quality of life. She called on the authority to seriously address the housing problem under the national plan on social protection and inclusion.

The authority's annual report was very poor, showing that the organisation did not have a real plan with the necessary indicators to tackle social problems. The authority was still evaluating existing schemes when there were 3,000 families awaiting assistance for social accommodation.

Poverty and social inequality statistics published by the NSO and various national action plans on poverty and social protection indicated housing as one of the important sectors which had to be addressed. A 2003 study showed that there were 35.6 per cent of people living in poverty who were living in rented furnished dwellings, having to pay high rents which they could not really afford because they were living on social assistance. The government had done nothing in seven years to implement the national plan on poverty. The Cottonera was one of the areas where there was an acute social accommodation problem which the government failed to address.

The rent reform brought hardship to many and, contrary to what had been stated by former minister Dalli, vulnerable tenants who had had their rent increased to €185 were not receiving any subsidy. Housing officials were not giving consideration to humanitarian cases. She spoke of a case of five young people who were sleeping in cars or in questionable accommodation because their needs had not yet been addressed through the embark-for-life scheme.

Dr Coleiro Preca said there were young couples who could never afford to buy their own homes because they were receiving meagre wages or were dependant on social assistance. They were only able to rent if given subsidies, but the government had failed to assist these couples. She added there were tenants who did not apply for rent subsidies because they were threatened by owners that their rent would be increased if they received such subsidy. People applying for subsidies were asked to pay beforehand for administrative expenses which often amounted to half their weekly social assistance.

Dr Coleiro Preca spoke about the responsibility of the Housing Authority to embellish the surroundings of housing estates, not only in the interests of the tenants but also for the sake of not devaluing government property.