|
I often read letters by owners of pre-1939 property, continuously complaining about what they term “outdated” and “shameful” rent laws. But I very rarely, if ever, see letters from the many thousands of Maltese and Gozitan young people, complaining about outrageous “modern” prices of property which are turning the lives of so many young people into a life of “slave labour” in order to meet the hefty monthly payments they have to pay to the banks for decades, in order to finally being able to say that they are the sole owners of their property! That is, if they can outlive their payment period!
How is it possible that property prices in Malta keep on rising at a high, yearly rate when we have many thousands of vacant premises? And thousands more under construction?
I believe that one of the reasons for this is the unjust practice of having a government-appointed architect evaluating an already sold property, on the market value of the property at the time of the evaluation, and not on the condition and market value of the property at the time of sale. Any improvements made to the property by the buyer, even if done by the buyer himself, will work against the buyer because the evaluation will definitely be higher than the price shown on the contract of sale! When this happens, both the seller and the buyer will incur extra expenses in stamp duty on the difference of the selling price and the evaluated price. And a hefty penalty to boot!
As long as this system of property evaluation continues, and architects continue to yearly increase prices when evaluating properties, there is no chance that property prices come down to more reasonable and affordable levels without causing so much hardship on young couples seeking a reasonably priced property.
Why penalize honest sellers and buyers of property when there are so many reasons why a property owner may want to sell at a lower price than that set by the government-appointed architect? What if a property owner may want or need hard cash in a short time for one of many reasons? Or because the property had been on the market for too long, and the owner is not willing to wait any longer, hoping that a buyer may come along? Why cannot seller and buyer negotiate a lower price because of the fear that the architect may evaluate the property at a much higher price? I have not seen any guidelines published on how such architects arrived at their evaluated price.
No wonder a foreign-base organisation – Free Press Release Centre – has predicted that due to the present situation in the property market in Malta, inflation in property prices can even double in the years to come!
This is happening at a time when we are being constantly told that wages and salaries in our country cannot continue to rise as otherwise Malta will become less competitive. And when we are also being lectured by minister Austin Gatt, that “no one in Malta today has any guarantee of keeping his/her present employment”!
The myth that competition will bring prices down is certainly not working in the property market, thanks also to government measures as explained above. And total indifference from the political class as well as Church authorities and clergymen, who seem – or act – as if they are unaware of this very grave problem facing Maltese society in general and young people in particular. Not just now but even more so in the future.
The right of each citizen to have a roof on his/her head, has been turned into a luxury reserved only for those who can afford very high prices of property. Or who are willing to risk taking a very hefty loan and then live like hermits for the rest of their working lives, without any guarantee that they would be able to make it to the very end of the loan period! As to the oft-mentioned “social soul” of the present government, that can be conveniently forgotten. After all, it was just electioneering clap-trap!
Eddy Privitera
Mosta
|
