I refer to the article entitled ‘Justice, equality and peace’ by Yana Bland Mintoff (The Sunday Times, July 15). Ms Bland Mintoff underlined the lack of proper maintenance of housing estates, in particular in the inner harbour region.
While the Housing Authority acknowledges several shortcomings within these housing estates, it should be pointed out that maintenance costs incurred by the authority in 2011 amounted to €1,409,163.
Legal tenants are obliged, by virtue of their lease agreement, to undertake regular maintenance of their respective apartment and of their respective common areas.
Unfortunately, over the years, some tenants fail to carry out any maintenance whatsoever.
Consequently, their apartments and common areas fall into disrepair. Some common areas are not only neglected but are also subjected to acts of vandalism and anti-social behaviour.
From 2010, the Housing Authority launched a scheme entitled ‘Il-Binja Tiegħi, id-Dar Tiegħi’, encouraging residents to form residents associations to be able to take a more active role in the management of their housing estate.Common areas were refurbished accordingly.
For several years now, the Housing Authority has had a scheme called ‘Structural maintenance’, whereby it helps tenants to undertake the necessary maintenance.
Unfortunately, since the rent law stipulates that six per cent of the maintenance bill is to be added to the annual rent to cover costs incurred, some tenants opt out of the scheme to avoid paying higher rent. According to our current rent law, minimum rent is€185 per annum.
Due to various social and economic reasons, some residents within these housing estates pay the minimum rent, which works out to €15.41 per month (50 cents per day). Although some residents pay a higher rent, all other residents have their rent subsidised according to their annual income.
Only in very exceptional cases do residents pay commercial rent. Some residents also have rent arrears running into thousands of euros. Within this context, I question whether the maintenance cost incurred by the Housing Authority is sustainable.
Maintaining all blocks – approximately 1,209 – at this level of rent income and without regular maintenance by tenants, as obliged by their lease agreement, is neither economically sustainable nor realistic in the current economic situation.
Ms Bland Mintoff underlined the problem of overcrowding due to single mothers living with their parents.
May I gently point out that although the Housing Authority is concerned about this social phenomenon and does its best to address it, it cannot be held responsible for personal decisions and lack of proper family planning.
Ms Bland Mintoff underlined that several private apartments are empty and not being utilised.
While the Housing Authority has no authority over these privately-owned apartments, it has just introduced ‘Skema kiri’, whereby apartments from private owners are rented out at a commercial rate by the authority and then sublet to clients at a subsidised rent.
The Housing Authority is also currently in the process of evaluating over 600 applications from private owners.
Hopefully, in the coming months, it will be in a position to enter into a 10-year agreement with these owners and subsequently rent them out to clients.
Ms Bland Mintoff highlighted the difficulty of young couples’ inability to pay bank loans.
While I understand her concern, may I point out that last June,the Housing Authority issued123 apartments for sale, whereby applicants pay 15 per cent on the day of the agreement and the rest in monthly instalments over an interest-free period of 20 years.