'We don't rely on golden passports': Bernard Grech pledges aid for first-time home buyers

Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech pledged to subsidise home deposits and loan interest for first-time property buyers during a youth activity on Friday. 

Grech promised that the Nationalist Party in government would help create a resilient economy, adding "we're not a team that relies on golden passports".

Friday's activity was a youth event organised by the Nationalist Party's youth wing MŻPN. The meet and greet was well-attended by youths and candidates alike, all of whom changed Grech's name as he arrived to the tent.

Grech said the PN has a clear plan and many measures that affect youths, while encouraging the audience to vote. He said the PN can only funfill its plan with a majority vote.

MŻN president Gabriel Micallef took the floor and recalled speaking to a young person a few moments before the event. He said this person didn’t feel comfortable participating in the discussion, but he attended today’s event because he believes in Grech’s vision.

He admitted that young people came to the event because it’s a social activity. “The common aspiration is that we want to see a better coutnry than what we have now.”

Micallef turned his guns on government and spoke about an EY survey that showed a majority of young people want to leave Malta. He added that many young people are interested in the environment, and how many climate protests were organised and attended predominantly by youths.

He encouraged these youths to join and vote for the Nationalist Party.

Bernard Grech noted the successful turnout of the event, adding that it shows that people are starting to shift towards the Nationalist Party.

“We’re giving a new hope to students who wanted to leave Malta,” he said, emphasising that the party must be proud of its past.

Grech moved on to first-time property buyers, acknowledging that many incentives were introduced over the years to help young people to enter the property market.

He then listed two measures from the Nationalist Party's manifesto aimed towards first-time property buyers.

Grech explained that a Nationalist Party government would help young families struggling to pay their 10% home deposit by handing them a loan of maximum €20,000, which would be paid back over a period of 30 years at most.

For first-time buyers below 35 years, the Nationalist Party would subsidise half of the interest on their home loan, not exceeding €250,000, for the first five years of the loan.

“Yes the Labour party has a similar proposal - but ours is better,” he said, explaining that the incentive would not be absorbed by high property prices.

The Labour Party's first electoral pledge was to give young couples buying their first home €1,000 each year for the first 10 years of their purchase. The grant would not have to be paid back.

READ ALSO: In first election pledge, Labour to give first-time property buyers €10,000