Page 17 - Housing & Poverty In Malta With A Focus On The Southern Harbour Region

become central to the sustainment of the Maltese economy and to the absorption of blue
22
collar labour .
The objective of upheaving an otherwise stagnant labour market through employment in
23
the construction sector was pronounced in many an official document . Statistically, this
may easily be seen in the computed occupancy ratios. As per the 1957 census, such a ratio
was estimated to be 1.3 persons per room. Since 1957 the average housing unit has
slightly grown in size whereas the average family size has shrunk. As a result, the 1995
census indicates that the occupancy ratio for the census year had plummeted to 0.54
persons per room. These two figures speak volumes about the construction spree that
has been taking place in Malta during the 38 years covered by the two indicated censuses.
It would not be unreasonable to speculate that the next census, due to start in 2005, will
show a partial reversal of this trend as previously large dwellings are now being
demolished to make space for smaller housing units. However, this is not something that
can be confirmed before the results of the next census are published.

The last four decades, pithily characterised by the said policy-induced residential
development boom, have been conducive to the present situation, whereby about a third
of the total housing stock is estimated to be vacant permanently or in wintertime.
Moreover, whereas 60% of the housing stock is of an acceptable standard, 30% is in need
of substantial repairs and 10% is outright derelict. These statistics clearly underscore the
problems of vacant housing, the problems with the Rent Law Act and further problems
with lack of financial means to be able to maintain housing units in a habitable condition.
What is more, they seem to indicate that there has been a policy-induced overinvestment
in the housing sector with the consequences adumbrated in section 7 of this paper. The
major challenge ahead, as a corollary, lies in the reutilisation of the currently-vacant
housing stock in lieu of the development of other rural tracts of land at the expense of
the natural environment, as well as the ascertainment that ghettos are prevented from
forming in certain areas of the Island, where a culture of poverty is promoted becoming
socially acceptable in the short run and where it fossilises into a way of life in the long
run. This could further end up reinforcing a social caste that is both unemployed and
unemployable due to the unfortunate mixture of stigmatisation and the lack of
opportunities that this way of life brings along with it.

22 Official government statistics in this area tend to underestimate total monies generated and circulated in
the construction industry because of the method of data collection (refer to the NSO’s “National Accounts:
Sources and Methods” for more information about the methods used in estimating the employment and
earnings ciphers) and Malta’s prolific underground economy.
23 These include, but are not limited to, the “Structure Plan for the Maltese Islands” by the Ministry for
Development of Infrastructure (1999), “Report for the Year 1998-1999 and Estimates for the 1999-2000”
by the Housing Authority (1999), “The Land and Housing Markets in Malta: The Economic, Social and
Environmental Dimensions” by The Planning Authority (1996).

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