Social Solidarity Minister Michael Farrugia visited ongoing refurbishments at the Corradino road (Paola) housing estate today, and said that this project, together with social housing refurbishment in St Paul's Bay and Senglea, has cost €700,000 thus far.

A total of €1.3 million has been earmarked for such projects and when more are found then the rest of the funds will be used. He mentioned that some apartments in these estates were in a dire condition.

In Paola, some residents were moved to a different location while works were under way, particularly because their roofs for example, were in a perilous condition. "We aim for this project to be in the final stages by the end of the year. In St Paul's bay, works are expected to conclude by the first quarter of 2016 and structural works in the Senglea blocks will begin in the coming days.

The Minister also mentioned that the Housing Authority also works with local councils on maintaining and improving housing from blocks rented from either government or the authority. Works are under way on 102 blocks in 14 localities including Qormi, Rabat, Sta Lucia and Zejtun.

Works conducted by the authority are constantly on the rise, he said. In 2012, 282 projects were undertaken, which rose to  381 in 2013 and 512 in 2014. He said that the Housing Authority handles around 7,200 apartments amounting to 1,200 blocks of flats.

The minister mentioned that the authority saw an extensive list of requests for help with refurbishment and maintenance over the years.

60 families had personally requested received financial aid around the islands this year alone, as part of a pre-1995 scheme to help replace very old piping, install bathrooms where none were present, change the drainage system, waterproof their roofs etc.