The Malta Employers Association on Wednesday greeted the proposed reforms within the published rental market white paper, saying that they are pleased that something has finally been done on the rental sector, and that they hoped that the proposed reforms would be regulated properly.

The meeting between the MEA and the Parliamentary Secretariat for Social Accomodation, which was led by the Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes himself, marks the start of a public consultation period on the white paper on the rental market which was published on Monday.  The consultation period will run till 30 November.

The white paper, which focuses specifically on residential leases, has set out three mains aims; working towards the stability of the family, working towards the transparency and the professionalization of the private rental sector.  Longer rental contracts, rental contract registration and regulated annual price increases are among the reforms proposed within this white paper.

The MEA, represented by President Dolores Sammut Bonnici and Director General Joseph Farrugia, said that it would be gathering feedback from its members on any grey areas that there may be within the white paper, but praised the stability that the white paper was aiming for, saying that this was within everybody’s interest. 

The association was also pleased with the “strong and productive” dialogue that they had had with the secretariat in the run up to the publication of this white paper, saying that they had felt that both sides had learnt from each other.

Parliamentary Secretary Galdes meanwhile reiterated that the government was open for consultation on the white paper, and agreed with the MEA in saying that there was a relationship between salaries and the rental market, saying that higher paying jobs had had an effect on the rental market, with prices rising to match the high salaries that were being offered by companies such as those in the gaming sector.

Galdes concluded that with these reforms, the aim was that the rental sector could regulate itself; but said that if this turned out not to be the case, the government would look to enforce it itself so to maintain the stability that was being proposed.