Environmentalists have backed developers’ pre-Budget proposal of taxing derelict property, but they say that vacant housing should not be excluded from such a measure.
The Malta Developers’ Association has suggested that the government should give a two-to three-year transition period to allow people to restore dilapidated properties before imposing a deterrent on those who fail to do so. However, association president Sandro Chetcuti stressed that derelict properties were distinct from vacant properties. He argued that the use of a vacant property was up to the individual, who might be holding on to it as an investment or a gift to family members.
Astrid Vella from Flimkien Għal Ambjent Aħjar said vacant properties constituted a burden on the taxpayer through the provision of services such as water, electricity and drains. If gathered together, vacant properties would amount to a town nine times the size of Birkirkara. Over-development contributed to air pollution, physical and mental health problems and pressure on virgin land.
“Far from being a personal issue, as claimed by Sandro Chetcuti, property ownership entails social responsibility. All property must be used judiciously, not just old properties.”
Martin Galea De Giovanni, chairman of Friends of the Earth Malta, said that while the NGO agreed with the principle of taxing derelict properties, the measure should not be used as a way to push families into selling properties where they were unable to do, at a cheap or unfair price.
Considering the size of the island and the little open land left, the government should do its utmost to prevent vacant properties from serving as an investment.
Environmentalist Michael Briguglio also stressed that speculation needed to be addressed.
The latest census, in 2011 showed that one-third of buildings in Malta were vacant or derelict.
Referring to Mr Chetcuti’s argument that owners might wish to keep vacant properties as investment, Dr Briguglio pointed out that money in banks is also taxed.
Alternattiva Demokratika in a statement today said the uglification of certain parts of Malta and the gobbling up of huge chunks of Maltese countryside is not only due to the amount of abandoned properties but even more so to the ever
growing amount of vacant properties in the country, which have now
reached the amount of 70,000.
"Whilst these properties remain vacant, the building spree continues galore in previously pristine areas of our country. Alternattiva Demokratika therefore reiterates that, as proposed in our 2013 Electoral Manifesto, fiscal measures against land speculation by means of a tax on property kept empty for the purpose of speculation, should be introduced."