The Malta Developers Association (MDA), once again, calls onto the government to end an injustice it has been perpetrating for decades through its anti-Constitutional pre-1995 rent laws.
Noting another condemnation by the highest Court through its latest judgement last week, in which the state was condemned to fork out €250,000 in compensation to the owners of commercial premises in Sliema after finding that “the law prejudiced landlords”, the MDA insists that the state is obliged to solve this problem without further delay.
The MDA insists that it does not make sense that the state, through taxpayers, keeps forking out hundreds of thousands in compensation with every judgement delivered, instead of changing the pre-1995 rent laws and finding a solution in the interests of both tenants and landlords.
While the MDA recognises that such changes may bring hardship, particularly on tenants of private residences on long-leases, it is the duty of the state – and not of private landlords – to solve these problems. The MDA insists that while pre-1995 rent laws should be changed, the state is duty bound to come up with solutions aimed at helping out vulnerable tenants who may be hit hard with such changes.
The MDA reiterates that landlords should not be discriminated against as they also have a right to enjoy and make full use of their properties, as declared regularly by the Maltese Courts.
A serious country cannot have endemic anti-constitutional laws. Problems are not solved by looking the other way but by facing and solving them.