Changes made to the conditions of rent subsidies have left tenants who are eligible to the assistance worse off, shadow minister for social policy Paula Mifsud Bonnici said in a press conference this afternoon.

The conference was also addressed by Nationalist Party (PN) spokesperson for family, rights of the child and the elderly Robert Cutajar and spokesperson for housing and the fight against poverty Stephen Spiteri.

She explained that following the announcement of the 2017 budget measures, the government has changed the conditions so that any tenant of a rental property that is eligible for a government subsidy would require their landlord’s signature to apply for the newly proposed subsidy increase.

The problem is that when a tenant was unsuccessful in getting the landlord’s signature for this new application, the tenants were not only unsuccessful in getting the increase but are also having the original subsidy taken away from them.

In other instances, she said that even though the landlord was signing off on the application for tenants to get access to the increase, this was then accompanied by an increase in the amount of rent charged. This effectively made the increase in the government subsidy disappear.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici explained that the situation is already very difficult for all those seeking to rent a property due to the rocketing rental prices. She observed that despite this, the government is still creating more obstacles for these people.

Mr Cutajar took note of how a big section of Malta, who classified themselves as middle class, have not felt their quality of life increase despite many government proclamations of how well Malta’s economy is doing.

He slammed the government for only providing a €1.75 increase in the 2017 budget Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA). He said a five per cent increase in food prices was one of the reasons why living conditions were deteriorating for many families.