The Labour Party’s proposals on housing, the Nationalist Party said, translate into a weakening of benefits which young people get at present under the Equity Sharing scheme. What the MLP was proposing would result in higher prices for houses and the proposals were inferior to what was already available.

The MLP proposal to grant 10 per cent of the price of a property up to a maximum of e11,647 (Lm5,000) was far less generous than the Equity Sharing scheme, under which a couple can benefit by assistance of up to e32,611 (Lm14,000).

The MLP proposal could also lead to a rise in price of properties costing less than e116,468 (Lm50,000), which would be detrimental to first time buyers, the PN said.

The MLP’s subsidy proposal was also giving free rein to the banks to raise interest rates as it suited them, leaving it to the government to pay, the PN said. This was because the subsidy was not linked to the base rate but to the effective rate. The PN in government already has a scheme which subsidises interest rates, but had been careful to see that it would not allow rates to be raised. Alfred Sant’s proposals meant that he would be “taking” not ”giving”.