Page 12 - Housing & Poverty In Malta With A Focus On The Southern Harbour Region

1. The change in the number of households, which is given by net immigration and
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the number of marriages ;
2. The demand for summer residences, which has tended to increase in consonance
with the amelioration in the standard of living;
3. Tourism in that letting property to tourists is lucrative and turns housing units into
a kind of operating capital;
4. The provision of subsidised housing, which has been reduced after 1992, but
which is still substantial;
5. A lack of safe, alternative, inflation-proof investments;
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6. The availability of developable land or the perception thereof ; and
7. The Rent Laws, which have been repealed in 1995, but are still in force on older
contracts and the experience of which has made developers overly-cautious.

Affordability is a key factor to be taken into account in the local scenario. According to
Paul Camilleri, the Maltese Chamber of Architects believes that the housing problems in
Malta may be ascribed to affordability rather than housing supply or availability (Business
Times, Jan 23, 2002).

The Housing Authority builds and sells some 150 – 200 properties for 33 % less than the
commercial price annually, with over 1,000 units having been issued over the past 5 years.
Such units are allocated as follows: 55 % go to families with children; 30 % to engaged
couples; 5 % to singles over 30 and singles over 18 who have experienced institutionalised
care; and 10 % to persons with disability. Applicants are means-tested, with the maximum
allowable income and capital being LM 9,000 and LM 15,000 respectively in the case of
married or engaged couples and LM 6,500 and LM 9,000 for single persons, also in that
order. A point system is employed in the allocation of the Housing Authority’s housing
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units . This, conceivably, does mitigate the local affordability problem for a subset of the
population, though for the other subset affordability problems will still be
insurmountable.

16 In this respect, a 10% levy on property sales to foreigners was introduced in 1990, with the intent of
denting foreign demand for Maltese land.
17 In this respect, the 1988 Building Permits (Temporary Provisions) Act provided extensive land for the
development of residential units well in excess of needs. But in 1992, with the enactment of the
Development Planning Act, the power to extend building development areas was devolved to the Planning
Authority and the extension of development boundaries, subsequently, became more difficult. This might
have given rise to expectations of shortage.
18 Refer to The Times of Malta of Sunday, November 23, 2003 “More affordable housing for sale” and
Tuesday, November 25, 2003, “Housing Authority issues 143 units for sale”. Both articles are available and
have been accessed to on “http://www.timesofmalta.com”.

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