‘Serious’ rise in rental prices forcing people to lose faith in politicians, MP says

Nationalist MP Carm Mifsud Bonnici says higher rents forcing people to move in with parents

Speaking in Parliament tonight, Mifsud Bonnici warned that the situation with the rental market is getting out of hand
Speaking in Parliament tonight, Mifsud Bonnici warned that the situation with the rental market is getting out of hand

Nationalist MP Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici has said people are losing faith in politicians as a result of soaring rental prices in Malta.

Speaking in parliament, the former minister said that for the first time in his career, he is encountering people who have lost faith in politicians.

“People tell me they are no longer interested in politics. This means that there is a proportion of the population whose situation has deteriorated so much, that they no longer have faith in politicians and the political system,” he said.

He said that as a result of the high cost of renting, a number of people are being forced to move back in with their parents, adding that in many cases, these people were spending up to 60% of their pay cheque on rent.

“We do not appreciate the extent to which the sale of citizenship has increased rental prices,” he said.

Mifsud Bonnici said that it was unacceptable for people to buy property in Malta from abroad without ever having visited the country. Moreover, he said that the introduction of tax on rents had also resulted in the cost of housing going up. “The tax means that landlords have to pay more money and this has led to them passing this expense on to their tenants.”

The former minister called on the government to find ways of having housing that was accessible to those coming from a low socioeconomic status. He said that given the fact that the number of housing units is increasing, one would have expected rents to go down, rather than up, as market trends are showing.