The Labour Party’s proposal for young couples buying their first house means in effect that the couples would have to pay back to the government more than double what they would have received in assistance, the Nationalist Party’s information office said.

This was because, it added, when the couples came to sell the property, they would have to pay back the total amount they would have been given, together with commercial rates of interest. This was not a grant to young people but a loan scheme whose amount would have to be paid back in interest. What it amounted to was the MLP wanting to make a profit from young people buying a first house, the PN said.

This was not the first time Labour leader Alfred Sant had proposed loan schemes for young people. When he was Prime Minister he eliminated the stipend and told students to borrow from loan schemes he had worked out with the commercial banks, it added.

The MLP proposal meant that the government would be making substantial profit possibly amounting to more than double the so-called assistance given to first time buyers.

And the MLP had not indicated if interest rates would be interfered with. At commercial rates it might mean the loan being paid back at seven per cent interest annually.