Sustained economic growth is a major achievement for a small economy like ours, especially when it is operating in a highly competitive and a rather depressed international business environment. Growth and development endow significant benefits to the nation and society at large.

However, there are also downsides to rapid growth, which include unaffordable housing. Experience in many countries has shown that, in the short term, property prices invariably soar before they level off in the long term. Malta is not an exception, and as a result we are seeing social housing pressures building, queuing being an obvious symptom.

Rising property prices and rental accommodation is the result of a complexity of factors. Among them are a growing population, an influx of well-paid foreign workers, an increased affluence of local residents and a change in demographic and cultural characteristics.  

The government and its agencies are cognisant of these facts and their impact on affordable housing and are determined to mitigate these problems through multi-pronged, multi-staged approaches.

In spite of the pressure on the government to take drastic measures to reduce the queuing problem for social housing and to address the issue of rising rents, it will not resort to quick fixes or unsustainable solutions.

The government has announced innovative initiatives such as a pilot project which will assist low-income families to become property owners

Effective short-term remedies will be taken but within a holistic approach.

The Housing Authority has already embarked on a detailed study on the housing situation. As a first step, it is finalising a detailed profiling exercise in order to categorise the list of applicants so that new initiatives will be target-specific, efficient, effective, fair and transparent.

In the process, the Housing Authority will be implementing tangible short-term measures that have been identified as necessary and complementary to its long-term strategy.

The European experience as well as our own have shown building more housing estates is not, by itself, a sustainable solution.

It simply results in greater demand and a further increase in the waiting list. It is a case where supply creates its own demand.

So while we have instigated the biggest housing project ever in Malta in order to build more than 600 housing units, the government has also announced innovative initiatives such as a pilot project which will assistlow- income families to become property owners.

Persons who have a steady job and qualify to benefit from a subsidy on the rent which they pay for privately rented property, or for alternative accommodation, will be eligible to participate in this new scheme.

The Housing Authority is putting in all the safeguards to make sure that the net monthly instalment will not create a huge strain on these families. On the contrary, it will be a much cheaper option than renting from the private sector.

This is a scheme in conjunction with local banks, and it is the bank that will have the final say as to who is eligible or not, depending on the individual applicant’s financial situation.

However, this is a scheme that is earmarked for those that without government financial assistance would not qualify for a bank loan. This is a perffect example of how the government intends to tackle the issue in a multifaceted manner.

In fact, this initiative is only a small part of the government’s overall strategy, which incorporates an increase in the supply of housing units, boosting job opportunities for the lower-income groups to move to more skilled jobs, tax concessions and improvement in the minimum national wage while adopting more targeted policies which will be welfare-enhancing.

This should be in parallel to the government’s efforts to make affordable housing more accessible while at the same time providing social housing to the most vulnerable.

Stephen McCarthy is chief executive officer of the Housing Authority.