True owners of their homes

Mr and Mrs Camilleri have been married for 29 years. They have children and live in a house they worked all their lives to build, maintain and turn into their own slice of heaven. The house forms part of the Home Ownership Schemes of the 1980s, which provided land for families to develop their homes on and, as things are, the house can never belong to the Camilleris.

I must admit being deeply perturbed by such realities. Hundreds of families have been trapped in a legal limbo for decades now. The legal dilemma is rather simple. The land which the then Labour government so gallantly distributed to families had been “expropriated” from third parties without effecting payment. The natural consequence of these shoddy arrangements, most prevalent in the 1981-1984 period, was that the residences could only be regulated by a promise of sale agreement (konvenju), extended annually by the Housing Authority. The occupants could not be termed “owners” according to law because ownership could not be transferred.

At the outset, I reiterate what I have always said in public: the motive behind the HOS was laudable, yet deficient. As noble in intention as this scheme was, it fell short on the sustainability front, shifting the problem from one side to the other, producing a time bomb this government is committed to defuse. The then government saw fit to rob Peter to pay Paul by taking private land, giving it to third parties for them to develop their home on, never paying the original owners.

Among the HOS areas, we had stretches of land in Għar Barka in Rabat, Tal-Wej in Mosta, Burmarrad, Għajn Dwieli in Paola, Santa Luċija and Gudja, all having housing estates built on unpaid, expropriated private land. The 500 or so families living in these houses, till very recently, were not the owners of their own homes and lived under a promise of sale for the last 30 years. This was causing huge problems, concern and stress as, for instance, these families could not sell their own homes, which they had built (you cannot sell what you do not own) and obtaining a bank loan by putting their house as collateral was legally impossible (as the house was not theirs).

This scheme, praiseworthy in intention but reprehensible in its effects, caused a threefold injustice: the original owners had been deprived of their property without any compensation; the families who had spent considerable sums of money to build and embellish their homes could not claim ownership; the government is now obliged to pay to the original owners deprived of their land today’s market value (and not the value obtaining in 1980s, which was hugely lower) together with interest accruing since the date of taking over. A veritable, perfect financial and social storm.

I must admit living very difficult moments over the last few months, together with the Land Department officials, to begin to cut this Gordian knot. It would have been much easier turning a Nelson’s eye. However, this government does things differently. With the full endorsement of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Finance started providing funds and we are addressing this complex reality.

In fact, over the past months the Land Department invested close to €5 million to pay for land in the areas mentioned, hence setting the record straight. This land is now being made available to the families, through the Housing Authority, for them to become effective owners of the properties they bought some 30 years ago.

The HOS was used as a political instrument in the 1980s, claiming to provide housing solutions with much pomp and fanfare. But it is this government that is truly providing the solutions as these families are becoming the true owners of their homes.

I am determined that, each year, we will continue addressing more areas in, to name a few, Siġġiewi, Kirkop, Mqabba, Żurrieq, Nadur, Msida, Dingli, Mosta, Marsascala, San Ġwann, Xagħra and Mġarr. I am under no illusions. This process will take some years and several millions of euros. But we have shown our will in solving 500 cases in the last 15 months alone.

Over the past 10 years, this government has paid over €106 million for previously expropriated land, marking its commitment to seeing this chapter through, not just for HOS purposes but also for land expropriated decades ago for various other public purposes. These funds are being invested at a time when everyone agrees that the Ministry of Finance would have had every excuse in the world to cut on such expenses. Of course, more remains to be done. Millions more are still due as compensation and annually we are paying an average of €15 million in arrears.

We believe the funds this government is spending on this initiative are a true investment in the quality of lives of our families. This is a government that cares as we are putting our money where our mouth is.

jason.azzopardi@gov.mt

Dr Azzopardi is Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Land