Minister says ‘courageous’ decisions need to be taken on social housing
Michael Falzon said the country needed to fight its culture of entitlement and to offer assistance only to those who needed it
Social Solidarity minister Michael Falzon has said that the government needs to take “courageous decisions” if it hopes to effectively tackle the country’s housing problem.
Property prices as well as rents have skyrocketed over the past three years, with a considerable number of people no longer able to afford to purchase or rent a home.
Falzon said that it would be essential for the government to tackle a culture of entitlement that is widespread among certain people, adding that those that were not in need should not be benefiting from governmental help, to detriment of those who were actually in need.
“We need a change in culture,” he said. “Having people who, generation after generation, feel they are entitled to government housing is not viable.”
He said it was important for authorities to establish which people were really in need, and the type and duration of assistance they required.
Falzon was speaking during Wednesday’s afternoon parliamentary session which debated financial estimates for the Housing Authority, where he stressed that there were “new realities” being faced by society on social housing.
He said these realities were partly due to the country’s economic development which was impacting the housing market due to an increase in demand.
Falzon said that while the current situation was not ideal, the government had continued with its plans to build more social housing, having sealed a deal earlier in the day, that will see a €53 million loan being granted for the construction of some 680 new units.
Referring to statements by a number of Opposition MPs regarding the regulation of the rent market, Falzon said it was all well and good for this to be discussed before, but questioned whether this would find support from both sides of the House, if implemented.
“We can’t be in favour of rent regulation and then say we are against government intervention,” said Falzon, who added that if the Government and Opposition were to work together, “a lot could be achieved”.
On penalties on vacant properties, Falzon again questioned whether both sides of the house were really prepared to enact this sort of tax.
Falzon insisted that no matter how government decided to tackle the problem, there would always be some pushback. He said that some were concerned with the fact that the new housing project announced today need to be built on undeveloped land, while a number of others had emailed him voicing their concern with having social housing built in their locality.
Finally, the minister said he was agreement with Opposition MP Claudio Grech who earlier spoke of the need for a holistic housing policy, rather than simply an increase in social housing units.