The Maltese prefer buying their own property, rather than renting, according to Tonio Fenech, parliamentary secretary in the Finance Ministry.

Mr Fenech was speaking on the university campus at the invitation of the student organisation of Christian Democrat Students (Studenti Demokristjani Maltin – SDM) as part of their campaign for tomorrow’s elections for the university students’ council.

Replying to questions from SDM president Keith Galea regarding a report drawn up by the student organisation on the subject of housing reform, Mr Fenech said the government believed in assisting people, particularly first-time-buyers, with regard to purchasing their own homes, and was committed to helping young people invest in their own property. He said the Maltese property market clearly showed that people preferred buying their own property and this was only logical, as it was an excellent investment.

In response to a question regarding the liberalisation of rent and Alternattiva Demokratika’s declaration of principles on rent reform, Mr Fenech said rent was already liberalised and there were no restrictions by the government in this regard.

“While the government has never directly discouraged people from renting property, our aim is to assist people who want to buy their own home, as we believe most people prefer buying rather than renting property. It is simply not worth paying a monthly rent, when a monthly sum of money can go towards payments for one’s own home,” he said.

Mr Fenech acknowledged that this concept was not necessarily applicable to university graduates, but said he believed people were wise enough to save for a future investment.

On the other hand, he said, the government also took into consideration different people’s social conditions and efforts were also made to try to help those whose preference was to rent property.