The public consultation meeting held last Friday in connection with the proposed reform to rent laws was certainly an eye opener and definitely served to prove that the people are out for justice.
Social Policy Minister John Dalli took the matter to task and organised a discussion meeting where all points already put forward by the government were explained to the audience.
However, Mr Dalli also made sure to tell those present that the meeting was not only for information purposes, but also to listen to the suggestions of those present so as to fine tune the proposals before the eventual white paper is discussed at a parliamentary level.
Mr Dalli seemed to be up to the task and fully expected to be badgered and squeezed for any snippet of information or assurance that was on offer.
However, although the problem of tenant abuse is well known around Malta, the minister and many of those present could not fail to have been absolutely flabbergasted by some of the stories that surfaced.
The government has made it clear that once the law goes through, it will be a cut off point in the sense that flagrant abuse should no longer be possible. Yet, he also warned those present that while there was a real need for reform, this had to be implemented slowly and step by step.
One of the reasons for this is to not shock the system and also to not cause severe heartache and problems for the many elderly people who are currently paying measly sums to live in tenements. He is right in this line of thinking, but perhaps what many others might not have realised is that sweeping reform, done overnight, could absolutely wreck to property market.
The same market which many people have sunk their life savings into just to get onto the ladder by owning a small home. If a glut of empty properties were to flood the market, this could result in prices bottoming out and people will have paid massively over the odds for homes at a time when the government was receiving criticism for the lack of assistance available to first time home owners.
What the government will now have to counter is the growing wave of feeling that the changes to the laws will not be enough to make up for years of lost income on properties that are being rented out, some at less than e20 per year.
The government believes that the time is right to set the ball rolling, and rightly so. But it must listen to the people involved more, mostly because of the simple fact that the system is in such a mess, and so abused, that there could be potential loopholes that will continue to allow people to effectively “steal” from others.
The people that have been victims of the injustices of the rent laws know what they are facing far better than the technocrats as they live through the situation on a daily basis.
Again, one urges caution, but reform has to be the way forward. The government must ensure that whatever systems it eventually comes up with, they must be watertight to prevent such a ludicrous state of affairs from coming about again.
At the same time, the government has to resist the baying crowd and not fall into the trap of doing too much, too quickly.
Minister Dalli will certainly be walking the tightrope on this one and could very well be his first major test in his new role.