Having adequate housing is one of the fundamental rights of a person. Therefore it is the responsibility of every government to ensure that the housing issue is addressed effectively.
In fact in Budget 2008, Families Growing Stronger, housing has been given great priority. It is this government’s policy that, where possible, everybody is able to become a home owner. This policy is continuously being put into practice so that more young couples are able to buy their first residence.
This government has been a pioneer in introducing a number of schemes meant to assist those who are interested in buying their own home. These schemes are the result of much research and planning in order to make housing more accessible and affordable.
Through the consultation process with the public that took place before the budget, the government was continuously made aware of the problems encountered by first-time buyers.
In order to meet the demands, the government, through the Housing Authority, has introduced a number of initiatives.
The Housing Authority is currently preparing to advertise the third shared ownership scheme. There are 333 apartments, having a commercial value of Lm14.5 million, to be issued under this scheme.
The shared ownership scheme is another success story where first-time buyers can buy one-third or two-thirds share of the property depending on the category they qualify for. This scheme enables those who for some reason or another cannot afford to buy the whole share, to get a foothold on the property ladder.
In January of this year the Housing Authority introduced another scheme, the Equity Sharing Scheme. This scheme involves the private sector. This year the Housing Authority used Lm2 million to help those first-time buyers who bought from the private sector.
Young couples can buy part of the property and the other part will be paid at a later date without incurring any interest, with the result that they save thousands of liri. Beneficiaries can get a grant of as much as Lm14,000 if the property is finished and Lm10,000 if the property is in shell form, as long as the property is not valued at more than Lm50,000. In this budget, the government has allocated an additional half million for the Housing Authority to continue improving the Equity Sharing Scheme.
Next year the government will also be subsidising the interest rate by a maximum of one per cent over the basic rate if this is higher than 3.75 per cent. This subsidy will be given during a 10-year period. This will assist young families when there is a shift in the interest rate.
All these initiatives show a commitment by the PN government towards young families.
On the other hand the MLP has come up with proposals which indicate that the opposition is not aware of the current initiatives implemented by this government. The MLP states that if it were for them beneficiaries would receive an estimate of Lm7,300, which is only half of what the Nationalist government is giving to beneficiaries through the Equity Sharing Scheme. This proposal conjured up by the MLP is not advantageous at all as beneficiaries who would want to sell their property have to give back 10 per cent plus interests to the government.
Another scheme proposed by Labour is the capping of interest rates. Here again the Opposition Leader is either unaware of what the government is doing or else is trying to take credit for what the government is already proposing.
The third proposal put forward by the MLP is that of reducing the stamp duty threshold to Lm50,000; however they have not mentioned whether those persons whose property value exceeds Lm50,000 would have to endure an increase in the rate of the stamp duty.
The final proposal made by the MLP is that of helping unemployed mortgage payers. This is an initiative already taken by the present PN government, every time the need arose. This government has already reached an agreement with the banks so that loans of unemployed people are put on hold temporarily.
In this short space I only gave an overview of a few schemes currently provided by the Housing Authority; however there is more, such as various grants to refurbish government owned or private properties, subsidies on rent, etc.
Although comparisons are odious one cannot help comparing the policies being put into practice by the PN government to what the MLP as an alternative government is proposing. The Nationalist government was never afraid to update its policies to continuously meet the requirements of those who are really in need. It is the only way to ensure social justice.
Michelle Mallia is president of the Nationalist Party Women’s Movement