Minister for Social Accommodation Roderick Galdes retiterated that everyone has the right to decent accommodation, however, any state intervention should guarantee fairness with the landlords and take into account the needs of the tenants. He said that this reform will place the social responsibility on the state, and therefore the latter will ensure that there are no negative impacts on the quality of life of the affected people.
Minister Galdes said that the government is coming up with a concrete and effective solution through the changes brought about by this reform, including a strong rent benefit that will ensure that no one pays more than they can actually afford.
“This benefit is calculated on what is known as disposable income, which is already implemented in the subsidies concerning the free rental market, wherein a working person does not pay more than 25% of his/her income on rent. It is also worth mentioning that in the case of pensioners and social benefits recipients, the assistance given to them will be covering the entire increase in rent imposed by the board,” claimed Minister Galdes.
He said this during a meeting with representatives from Caritas Malta, which has been described as an instrumental partner that accompanied the Ministry in every step of the process of designing and implementing a system for decent housing.
For his part, the Chief Executive of Caritas Anthony Gatt described this reform as an important step forward. “This reform not only gives protection to vulnerable people including the elderly, low-income families and people with physical and mental health problems; it guarantees justice with the owners as well. It must be ensured that the measures are realistic and strong enough to prevent owners from going to court to assert their rights. We hope that this law will lead to a real avoidance of this situation so that these tenants do not live in fear. While we welcome these proposals that will surely give more security, we would like to see the law ensure full protection to families whose income does not always allow them to pay 25% of it for rent, so that they can live a decent life. In its latest study, A Minimum Essential Budget for a Decent Living 2020, Caritas Malta established a measure of how much income a family needs to live a dignified life.”
Minister Galdes pointed out that as far as people’s property and the right to a decent accommodation are concerned, impartiality is essential, and that can only be ensured by the Rent Regulation Board. He concluded that Malta has a framework that assists everyone in the housing sector, through schemes which help more people become homeowners, specialized housing programmes, social housing projects of quality, and the strong rent benefit.
