Muscat on rents: Market players ‘short-sighted in their approach’

Budget 2018 will mainly be focusing on the implementation of the electoral manifesto on which his government was elected, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat informed the Malta Developers Association. 

"Rather than thinking of new things, our priority will be to take the manifesto and implement it over a five-year period," Muscat told the developers during a pre-budget meeting at Auberge de Castille this afternoon.

The MDA has prepared its own proposals, with Muscat noting that there was some overlap between the proposals and the government's electoral pledges.

Muscat said he could guarantee that Budget 2018, like his other budgets, would be seeking to effectively redistribute wealth.

The points raised by the MDA included calls against any interference in the rental market. They argued it was “unfair” for investors to be held back after having taken risks.

MDA president Sandro Chetcuti (Photo: James Bianchi/MediaToday)

Muscat acknowledged that people had a right to expect a return on their investment, but insisted that there needed to be "clear rules".

"We want to protect those who have made investments but at the same time we must protect those people whose rent has doubled over a very short period of time," he said, adding that many in the industry were being short-sighted in their approach.

Muscat reminded the MDA that he had embraced their proposal to have a parliamentary representative for the property sector.

MDA president Sandro Chetcuti said that he was happy to see that – following “the tension” that had negatively impacted investment prior to the election – enthusiasm towards investment had now returned.

"Hands on heart, we have never seen as much work as today,” Chetcuti gushed, as he expressed the association’s appreciation towards government’s “pro-business approach”.

The proposals being put forward by the developers include extending the first-time buyers' scheme indefinitely, the introduction of a second-time buyers’ scheme, as well as incentives for developers to buy environmentally-friendly equipment. Chetcuti also said measures were required to address the shortage of workers.