The Department of Social Housing was sweeping under the carpet the problem of those living in sub-standard accommodation, Labour spokesmen Dr Karl Chircop and Dr Stefan Buontempo said yesterday.

The Labour MPs said the number of people living in substandard accommodation had reached nearly 14,000, and some of these were living in houses without a bathroom, a kitchen or in basements. Despite this high figure, the Department of Social Housing had only 3,000 applications for alternative housing for a yearly allocation of 100 units.

The Labour MPs said it did not make sense that the department was only trying to solve the problem for 100 families when the number of families living in substandard house was much higher. “Instead of solving the problems in this area, the department of social housing is more interested in reducing the number of applications… all it is doing is sweeping the problem under carpet,” Dr Chircop and Dr Buontempo said.