The White Paper on renting fell short of expectations in providing concrete, long-lasting solutions, the Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry said.

The document, published in October, proposed mandatory minimum leases as one possible means of tackling the instability and uncertainty of six-month leases. It also recommended financial incentives for contracts longer than a year.

The Chamber of Commerce said the White Paper did not give solutions that would overcome the issues causing the prevailing rental problems. It called for a “clear and directional role” for the Planning Authority in ensuring supply of affordable housing.

The planning watchdog had to ensure housing prevented overdevelopment for speculative purposes, the Chamber said, recommending a thorough audit of all private and public vacant property followed by efforts to put vacant property to good use.

The Chamber also called for a reassessment of the Individual Investors Programme’s property investment eligibility criteria.

It called for feasible, effective and reversible housing solutions that created an immediate supply of “affordable, comfortable, yet, reversible” accommodation.

The status quo in the private rental sector was not sustainable, it warned. “The country, its society and economy cannot afford the current rate of increase in accommodation costs to persist,” it said. “Strong and timely action is required to tackle the different factors that are contributing to the situation in order to safeguard the quality of life and sustainable growth in Malta,” the Chamber said.

The organisation representing the private sector noted that the country’s economic growth brought excess demand for labour, which could not be satisfied with Maltese workers. The labour market, consequently, became reliant on the consistent attraction of additional foreign workers, it noted.

“This has benefitted the country significantly from an output perspective but it is also cause for substantial stress on the country’s infrastructure and, most notably, on the housing market,” the Chamber said.

It noted that, due to the irreversible nature of construction, it would be detrimental for the country to flood the market with new residential property that could remain vacant when the economic cycle eventually turned.