Minister for Social and Affordable Housing Roderick Galdes announced the renewal of the ‘Rent to Help’ scheme; a scheme that envisages private properties being rented to the Housing Authority for use as social housing.
Currently under this scheme there are more than 1,300 families living in properties that fall under this scheme.
Details regarding the renewal of the scheme were given at a press conference by the Minister for Social and Affordable Housing Roderick Galdes, who said that ‘Rent to Help’ is one of the Government’s schemes and initiatives in the field of social housing.
Minister Galdes reminded that owners who rent properties to the Housing Authority under this scheme will continue to have a guaranteed rent, advance rent payment every six months and exemption from rent tax. The property lease contract will be valid for ten years.
He encouraged property owners to partner with the Government so that the scheme continues to spread further for the benefit of those eligible for social housing, as well as for the owners themselves with rent that offers peace of mind.
Minister Galdes said that with the renewal of the scheme, an innovation is also being introduced that aims to allow tenants who are renting in private property and are on the Housing Authority’s waiting list to encourage their landlords to enter the ‘Rent to Help’ scheme.
“In the first six months of this year on the ‘Rent to Help’ scheme, the Housing Authority has already invested more than €5 million in rents granted to landlords who rented property to it for social purposes. Since the launch of the scheme in 2017 until today, the expenditure has been around €38 million,” stated Minister Galdes.
He said that the scheme is one of the innovative tools being used to address the waiting list, so much so that in the last 8 years the waiting list has been reduced by almost half.
Minister Galdes concluded by saying that the renewal of the scheme demonstrates the Government’s commitment to social welfare and also recognises the valuable partnership that exists between the public and private sectors in this area.
The Chief Executive of the Housing Authority, Matthew Zerafa, stated that through the ‘Rent to Help’ scheme, the Authority is diversifying social housing with sensitivity towards the realities of families by offering not only a roof over their heads, but also stability and a connection to the community in which they grew up.
