These are the proposals of the Malta Developers Association to contribute to increasing the social housing stock and possibly control rent inflation:
The threshold imposed for residential rental in the Individual Investor Programme scheme is today very low and is creating an artificial increase in the rental rates of certain dwelling types, which are not usually rented to these individuals .
Today this amounts to €1,350 monthly, where this minimum value should be increased to €2,000 or even more monthly. This will direct investors to rent properties of a different kind, types of dwellings which are not usually sought out by locals.
Property owners today are finding it difficult to rent their properties to locals since they feel they are not well protected. With defaulters, property owners are finding it very difficult to regain possession of their property since the system is very bureaucratic. A review of the Rent Law may certainly help to attract more properties for rental to locals. A discussion should commence in this sense.
The Housing Authority can easily find properties where, with a one-time Capital investment of, say €15,000 to €20,000, owners can rent out their properties to the local market for a period of 15 years at a very reasonable price of, say, €250 to €300 monthly . This will help the Housing Authority to attract empty houses, while at the same time generating more work in order to upgrade these properties which will be rented out by the Authority at subsidised rates to families in need!
Rentals for modern properties are much higher today since owners have the opportunity to make good deals in this regard, given the very good economic climate. Below is a sample of the current average market rates:
1-bedroomed dwelling………€350.00-€400.00
2-bedroomed…………………..€400.00-€550.00
3-bedroomed………………….around €600.00-€700.00.
It is logical to expect a slow-down in this market at one time or another and, in this regard, it is being suggested that property owners who are committing themselves with the Housing Authority today should be given preference in any similar future scheme issued by the Authority.
Developers are often charged a Planning Gain in certain particular projects . Private land in development areas is becoming more and more difficult to find, so it is wise to make better use of developable land, especially when projects are designed well and do not to create a negative visual impact on the surroundings of the area.
Such ‘well planned’ projects can be easily allowed to build more units in addition to the normal thresholds. If such a proposal is considered, a percentage of the apartments could be purchased or rented with an agreed price to the Housing Authority. The price should only reflect the cost of construction and not the market value.
A number of sites were included in the building schemes in 2006 and were branded as Rationalisation Sites. For the past 10 years, landowners have struggled a lot, with little success, to get 75 per cent of the owners together in order to determine zoning and height limitation.
This might be an opportunity to offer owners of land in such sites the possibility to negotiate with the Planning Authority and the Housing Authority so that a percentage of an agreed project will also be directed to the Housing Authority, allowing the Planning Authority to proceed with the zoning and Height Limitation of the site.
Developers will be ready to pay a Housing/Social Gain as long as they find a breakthrough in this never-ending saga!