Lost inside the many pages that made up the last Budget is a proposal to set up an entity called Property Malta. The Finance Minister said it would participate in international events to promote and advertise Malta to attract “investors and people” who wish to buy holiday homes here. This joint venture with the Malta Developers Association would aim to encourage foreigners to come and “live and invest” in Malta.

Of course, the double reference to ‘investment’ is no coincidence. The same is done to promote the sale of Maltese passports, under the IIP scheme, on grounds that it attracts investment. But buying a passport or a holiday home in Malta is not an investment in the country but a purchase.

Ironically, or maybe not, inside that same Budget the minister doubled rent subsidies for low-income earners living in private properties. The rental market is increasingly getting out of reach for families, particularly with the large influx of foreign workers, who are pushing prices up.  Meanwhile, instead of trying to cool the market, Property Malta will be looking for more property buyers.

Naturally, it can be argued that the two are different, that what foreigners would be interested in buying is not what average income earners would be willing to rent. That is an assumption. What is sure is that one market impacts the other directly. The government’s ‘business-friendly’ policies, based on the trickle-down theory, are leaving victims by the wayside. It is often called poverty.

Not everybody is complaining, of course. Rental prices in Sliema are reported to have increased by 80 per cent in the last six years.

Fifteen civil society organisations, calling themselves the Malta Rent Coalition, have called on the government to act on the rising rent prices that are negatively affecting the most vulnerable in society. They said the worst affected were the elderly, victims of domestic violence, persons with disabilities, refugees and the newly-separated and the divorced, among others. They called for social justice and for the respect of human dignity.

In an interview, the Finance Minister did not endorse the idea of rent control, saying that “you cannot fight the market” but you can manage it. How exactly is promoting the sale of properties in overcrowded Malta meant to help in the management of market prices?

Clearly, the government is walking the tightrope on this. It has come up with a Paceville master plan that should please the building industry in no small way but, at the same time, has to cater for people who are not sharing in the profits made in the real estate, who do not own their home and finding the rent too high.

Back in the 1960s Malta was promoted as a retirement location. Such a mindset should no longer apply. Through membership of the European Union and the freedom of movement that has brought, it is managing the influx that is necessary at this stage. Central Bank data shows that property prices have increased by 67 per cent since 2001.

If the government and developers are fearing that the many proposed high-rise projects may not find the demand desired, it is the very idea of high-rise that should be addressed, not the issue of demand.

Land and open spaces are increasingly precious in this country. At the moment, the country needs less and not more demand for property. It needs breathing space.

People who already live here need to be able to afford a home or, at least, to rent one.