The GWU in an initial reaction to the rent reform White Paper said today that the document had several positive aspects, the need for which had been felt for a long time.

The union said it felt that the reform could help ease the burdens which young couples currently have to endure to buy their own home.

It noted that the rent law of 1944 had set the maximum rent, so as to afford social protection to many workers’ families.

Times had changed, living standards had improved, and many workers could now afford to invest in purchasing their own homes, the union said. Still, the government should those mechanisms which had protected small earners who could not afford to pay high rents. This was being said especially in view of recommendations for rent to be revised every three years in line with the inflation rate, the GWU said.