Page 16 - Housing & Poverty In Malta With A Focus On The Southern Harbour Region

5. The General Picture: Putting

Vacant Housing in Perspective

For a full understanding of the problem, it might be useful to provide, in limited detail,
19
Malta’s post-1945 pertinent housing policies and the incentives they disseminated.

Ever since the Knights of Saint John came to Malta in 1530, and probably even earlier, the
construction sector has always been regarded as a prime spurrer of the economy, most
notably because of its relatively labour-intensive nature. In the aftermath of the Second
World War, the U.K. Colonial Office asked a committee headed by Sir Wilfred Woods to
estimate the amount of war damage Malta had suffered, which was to be compensated
by the government of the United Kingdom, to suggest how to improve social standards in
Malta, and thereupon to proceed by suggesting how the government of Malta could
20
increase its revenue to cover ordinary expenditure. The result was the Woods Report ,
and it clearly postulated that it was not reasonable “to expect industrial development of
sufficient magnitude to add materially to Malta’s national income” 21 . Thus,
manufacturing and tourism came in the limelight. With the exception of a short interlude
in 1956, when British military expenditure soared again because of Malta’s strategic value
and the attack on Egypt over the Suez Canal dispute, the Maltese people had to look
elsewhere for employment. Nevertheless, tourism and manufacturing, together with
emigration, did not yield the expected results, so construction and quarrying had to be
resorted to. Construction became even more important with the advent of the rundown
of the British military base, which began in 1962. By 1969, quarrying and construction had

19 Pertinent, in this context, refers to the policy’s relevance towards giving the reader an understanding of
the reasons underpinning the extant stock of vacant housing.
20 “Report on the Finances of the Government of Malta” by Sir Wilfred Woods: London, HMSO (1946)
21 ibid.

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