Malta’s bishops today appealed to politicians, landlords and developers to take note of the “emergency situations” in the housing sector and called for unity to tackle with this escalating social issue.

In a pastoral letter on the feast of Our Lady of Victories, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, Gozo Bishop Mario Grech and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Galea Curmi say that “families and the elderly cannot meet the rapidly escalating rent crisis and consequently are ending up on the streets.

“Young people, sons and daughters of workers, do not qualify for a bank loan because their salaries cannot guarantee the monthly payments,” they added.

“People who are going through a crisis like a separation, mental health problems or an addiction, rely on the rental market because they either do not have their own property or do not have social housing. These new situations are creating a social emergency that requires and demands a solution and commitment from everyone, whoever he or she may be. God forbid that we, as a society, become indifferent when faced with these dramatic situations that are creating a new type of poverty while also destroying so many people’s hope, especially that of our young people.”

The full pastoral letter is in this link