The PN will be voting in favour of the newly released and table rent laws, but will propose some amendments to the bill, with PN MP Ivan Bartolo saying that the amendments would be centred on protecting those tenants who are most vulnerable.
The reform which Prime Minister Joseph Muscat described as "landmark" upon its launch was tabled in Parliament for its Second Reading by Parliamentary Secretary for Social Accommodation Roderick Galdes.
Galdes used his opening address to run MPs through the main proposals of the reform, these being tax credits to incentivise landlords into renting out on long term contracts, a minimum one-year rental contract, and notice periods both for the landlord and for the tenant to follow if either side are withdrawing or ending the contract among others.
"The headline of this law should not be about tax credits", Bartolo said in Parliament. "The headline of this law should be giving peace of mind to that elderly women whose pension all goes towards her rent and who, to continue living, has to be fed by her children", he said.
Bartolo went on to list eight amendments that the PN will be proposing when the law reaches committee stage.
Among these amendments, Bartolo proposed that the obligation for the landlord to take steps against the tenant in the case of a missed payment should be removed from the law, and that it should up to the landlord himself to decide whether to take such action.
Bartolo also questioned whether the National Statistics Office would be able to provide up to date property indexes - on which rental increases are to be, by law, based - up to the most recent month without any abuses or manipulated information. He suggested that one must implement a clause in the law so that the rental index centres on the date in which the NSO's figures apply.
The government, Bartolo said, should have the courage to intervene in the market when necessary to provide social justice. He noted that the law does open up some leeway for abuses to occur and for citizens to end up losing their houses. He said that there is a lot that can be done to promote social responsibility and avoid a tragedy occurring.
PL MP Clayton Bartolo meanwhile retorted that some of the amendments proposed had nothing to do with the rent reform law per se, but had more to do with social housing legislation, a sector which, he said, has its challenges which are being challenged through their own reform.
The debate will continue with a total of some 13 speakers from both sides of the House expected to provide their input on the subject in the coming sittings.