There was nothing new in the Labour Party’s proposals on housing and, when compared to the government’s initiatives, they leave much fewer financial gains in young people’s pockets, the Family and Social Solidarity Ministry said in answer to the MLP’s morning news conference on the housing sector.

The first scheme proposed by the MLP deals with a grant of 10 per cent. However, MLP leader Alfred Sant failed to mention the two schemes under the auspices of the Housing Authority, which are those of ‘Equity Sharing’ and ‘Shared Ownership’, the ministry said. The various schemes offered by the Housing Authority constantly seek to identify those areas requiring particular attention and assistance, and address them holistically. The initiative of the ‘Equity Sharing’ scheme was a novel approach, which the government undertook to assist persons purchasing their home from the private sector.

This scheme is the product of a comprehensive research analysis and overview of the present needs. Translated in financial terms, this scheme alone offers more economic aid than the proposed measure of the MLP, the ministry argued. In fact, the Housing Authority finances or guarantees between Lm7,000/€16,305.61, and Lm10,000/€23,293.73 for the purchase of the first residence in ‘shell’ form.

The Housing Authority finances or guarantees between Lm10,000/ €23,293.73 and Lm14,000/€32,611.23 for the purchase of the first ‘finished’ residence. Beneficiaries are under no obligation to buy back the investment made by the Housing Authority before 10 years from the date of sale.

The MLP states that with their proposed measures, the beneficiaries will receive an estimate of Lm6,600. Under the ‘Equity Scheme’ alone adopted by the Nationalist government, the beneficiaries can benefit up to Lm14,000.

Shared ownership has proved to be a success story, the ministry said. It is yet another scheme proposed by the Housing Authority to specifically help first-time buyers, in order to better meet the demand for having affordable home ownership. That is because the government is conscious that home-ownership is by far the most preferred tenure in Malta.

The MLP’s second proposal deals with capping interest rates. There is already an initiative which deals with interest subsidies on house loans. The government is granting a subsidy up to a maximum of one per cent, on the base rate of interest as established by the Central Bank if this is higher than 3.75 per cent. Such subsidy will be given over a period of 10 years on the purchase of the first residence, the value of which does not exceed Lm50,000 (€116,468).

As for the third proposal, which is helping jobless mortgage payers, the government is already doing its utmost to intervene, as it did with other sectors, to protect all the people in Malta and Gozo.

The government has already reached an agreement with the commercial banks to stop the payments of the unemployed for an established period of time.