The Church’s Environment Commission has reiterated its request to the government to launch a national study on property.

It made its appeal - the third one in three years - in a letter to Finance Minister Edward Scicluna, requesting its proposal to be considered in next year’s Budget, being presented on Monday.

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The Commission believes there is an urgent need for such a study, saying the situation had become more serious from a socio-environmental point of view.

More towers were being developed in residential areas, leaving a negative impact on communities; development in outside development zones was increasing at an alarming rate; the increase in the price of property was making it difficult for young people to buy their home and quick economic growth was bringing with it major problems in the property market and the socio-environmental fabric.

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The commission encouraged the government not to allow hasty and unsustainable development to dictate Malta’s economic policy but to ensure that the economy grew in a responsible way for the common good to benefit from the property market.