The Church’s Environment Commission has once again called on the government to fund a study on the demand and supply of Maltese properties and the fiscal and economic environment that has a bearing on them.

The commission first called for the study in December 2015, following the publication of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si’. It reiterated its call in its opinion on high-rise buildings 'Is the gain of the few rising above the common good?, published in August and prior to the 2017 Budget speech.

“Since no mention was made of such a study in the Budget speech, the KA [Environment Commission] is once again inviting government to fund such a study and its updates. The driving forces behind the mechanisms of the property market need to be studied, analysed and made public, so that informed policy decisions can be taken.

“The approval of certain development proposals and design of certain planning policies make one doubt whether the bigger picture, that is the common good, is being looked at or whether very narrow segmental interests are being given more importance,” the commission said in a statement this morning.

It said "generic" statements saying that the economy was growing were not enough to explain or justify the increase in buildings which might be hard to occupy or even be detrimental to the common good.

Other statements, such as that the government "should not interfere in the property market", besides being dangerous, were not helpful in the search for policy options because in its essence, development planning was a desirable intervention in a market which would otherwise make the country a very unpleasant place to live in for most people.

With respect to high-rise buildings, statements to the effect that building upwards was the only alternative to avoid urban sprawl would only hold water if all existing buildings were being effectively utilised, if it was proven that the standard of living would improve thanks to these buildings and if absolutely no building activity was being carried out beyond development zones.

The commission said it believed such a study had now assumed even greater urgency given that high-rise buildings were being approved.

“Some of these projects do not guarantee that the local communities will not suffer both in the short-term and in the long-term. Moreover, such projects raise doubts on whether the national property market will actually benefit from them,” it said.

Read the commission’s statement in full in the pdf link below.