The government has denied claims by the Labour Party that there is very low interest in government housing.

Labour housing spokesman Roderick Galdes said there had been a poor response to the issue of housing units for sale and that the Housing Authority had not managed to conclude apartment sales even after a second call.

Mr Galdes said the asking prices for the apartments were comparable to those of private residences even though the authority had said the prices were subsidised and affordable.

“The Labour Party is concerned housing policy is being pushed aside and we can’t have a situation where houses built with public funds by the Housing Authority have no market,” Mr Galdes said.

The Family Ministry said considerable interest had been expressed in 115 of the 117 units on offer, with 284 applications being submitted, 234 of which were valid.

About half the units had already been allocated and a promise of sale agreement had been signed on some of them. The authority was also in talks with applicants with regard to the remaining units.

The ministry also denied asking for high prices, saying there was a three to five per cent discount on the market price, which was, in turn, subsidised by 25 per cent. This meant that, for example, a three-bedroom flat with a commercial value of €105,000 was sold for €78,000.