New government regulations have created problems for tenants of rented properties who are eligible for a government subsidy, shadow minister Paula Mifsud Bonnici said today.

In the last Budget the government announced a raise in the subsidy but said applications also need to carry the signature of the landlord.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici told a press conference this afternoon that when the landlord's signature was not produced, the tenants were ineligible for the rent subsidy increase and were even losing the original subsidy.

Furthermore, some landlords who did sign the tenants' applications for subsidies were then raising the rents.

All this was happening in the context of rapidly rising rents which were making conditions hard for many families, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said. 

The press conference was also addressed by Nationalist MP Robert Cutajar, who said that people who until a few years ago felt themselves to be in the middle class had not seen their quality of life improve.  

He said a five per cent increase in food prices was one of the reasons why living conditions were deteriorating for many families.