The Housing Authority has introduced the new Equity Sharing Initiative aimed to assist first-time buyers wishing to purchase property from the private sector. In cases where the price of the property cannot be reached through a bank loan the authority helps by covering the shortfall between the sum that can be borrowed and the price of the property.

The authority has two main schemes to help promote home ownership. All units sold by the Housing Authority are offered on a shared ownership basis. Under this initiative applicants who cannot afford to purchase the full price of the property have the option to buy one third or two thirds of the equity instead.

The authority announced improvements to the Equity Sharing initiative which includes the need for one of the applicants to be in employment and an increase in the assets threshold for applicants over the age of 50.

Commenting on these changes, authority chairman Marisa Micallef, said: “We are starting to see housing poverty among the 50 plus age range who have never been homeowners. These people will not be able to pay commercial rents once they retire and do not have enough equity to buy outright. Yet with the help of equity sharing they can become homeowners and have a sense of security”.

A new condition was introduced with regards to employment. This condition was introduced in order to help those applicants that are working hard to become home owners. Thus applicants who are single and in the case of engaged or married couples, at least one of the applicants, should be gainfully employed for at least a year in order to be eligible for assistance under this scheme.

Another change that will entitle more people to benefit from this scheme concerns the assets threshold for applicants over the age of 50. Applicants that were given a low bank loan due to their age can qualify under this scheme if they possess more than Lm15,000 (EUR34,940.60) worth of assets. These applicants need to have more assets together with their bank loan and Housing Authority assistance to be able to purchase property from the private market.