[WATCH] Vacant government properties to be used as specialised housing run by NGOs

Roderick Galdes says vacant government property will be used for NGO-administered housing

Several unused government properties are to be given to NGOs offering specialised housing programmes, as part of a scheme unveiled by the social housing secretariat.

The government will be allocating €500,000 to the project, which will see a number of properties handed over to NGOs.

NGOs will be selected on the basis of a list of criteria, and will be given a property together with the necessary funds for its conversion.

Social Accommodation Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes said the scheme would shift the country’s housing strategy from social housing to specialised housing.

Galdes said that a number of vacant properties, in Valletta and around the island, had been identified and would be used for this purpose.

Government has identified vacant properties around the island such as this one in Bormla

He was speaking during a visit to one of these properties in Bormla.

“We don’t just want to give people a key and lock them in with the problems they had,” Galdes said.

He explained that there were many specialised services being offered by NGOs which have the necessary expertise to deal with the particular needs of some sections of the population.

Galdes said the scheme had been developed and was being administered by a board for specialised housing set up under his secretariat.

Housing Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes (centre) said government will allocate €500,000 to help NGOs refurbish the properties and transform them for their needs

The government, he said, appreciated and understood the importance of the work done by such NGOs and wanted to offer all the help it could.

Moreover, the said the state had an obligation to not let people fall behind and viewed NGOs already working on the ground as a way of maximising the results from such initiatives.

He said another board would be set up to offer support to NGOs participating in the scheme, adding that further initiatives would be launched in the coming weeks.

Housing Authority CEO Leonid McKay said it was the government’s housing strategy to focus on the needs of specific segments of the population.

McKay stressed that the authority could not only focus on social housing but needed to look beyond to affordable housing.

He said the Maltese Chamber of Architects will be working with successful NGOs to design the properties and their surrounding environment.

McKay stressed that the approach being taken was to ensure that properties were developed in a manner that was beneficial to the community and in such a way that allowed for the integration of their tenants into society.