Opposition Leader Bernard Grech said that the proposed reforms with regards to pre-1995 rents are “beneficial as it is always better to do something rather than nothing, but they are not enough.”

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday about the rent reform which seeks to eradicate pre-1995 rents, the PN Leader said that the situation of ‘protected’ or ‘old’ private rents has been a problematic issue for many years as it was not addressed in the best possible way by various governments, including both Labour and Nationalist administrations.

“It is unfair and incorrect of Prime Minister Robert Abela to attribute the present situation by attacking the Nationalist Party. It is also unfair to judge the decisions made by past governments as one needs to consider the situation of the time as every decision has its political, social and historical aspects,” Grech said.

Grech added that it was a Nationalist government that drew a line between rents and had the courage to face this long-lasting problem, however “certain things could always have been done in a better way.”

He added that “we are not here to judge as we do agree with some of the reforms proposed by the government but this does not mean that as an Opposition we should not responsibly voice our ideas on why and how this law can be made better.”

Speaking on the ways the government could have better presented this reforms, Grech said that “the first substantial criticism which has been put forth by various landlords is that this law does not give them the opportunity to enjoy their property as they wish but it compels them to keep their property leased.”

“We can all agree that everyone has the right to enjoy what is theirs,” Grech said.

With regards to the tenants, Grech said that this is a social problem that arose decades ago due to a political and historical situation. It has also grown due to political inaction. One of the reforms proposed by the government includes the act of taking the financial burden off the tenants with regards to their property.

Grech agreed with such a reform as “the government has an obligation to address social issues, however it seems that the government is only capable of seeing money. The government values everything and believes that everything can be bought and solved with money. Although we believe that money can help solve certain problems, we must recognize that money has no intrinsic value.”

“The government seems to have forgotten something important that is worth more than money including offering peace of mind to citizens.”

As part of this major reform presented by the government the landlords of properties bound under pre-1995 rents will be able to claim up to 2% of the property’s market value in rent. This reform means that property owners will not have the right to throw out tenants, thus nobody will end up without a roof over their heads, but owners will be given compensation for their property in accordance with principles established by the courts. 

Grech argued by stating that the government is addressing this issue in this way: ‘I know you have a problem and I will try to help you but you will have to go to court, and according to what the court says, I will carry your financial burden.’

He appealed to the government to understand the struggles that tenants still seem to have a number of issues with this reform.

The Nationalist Party believes that it would be better if before being sent to court, the government would offer the possibility for tenants to go before the mediation department and resolve the issue there rather than being sent to court.

“I believe that there will be many landlors and tenants who would much prefer to go through this route rather than go to court in order to resolve the issue,” Grech said.

Speaking about social housing, Grech highlighted that in the past eight years, “we have not seen any new and ready units providing accomodation. When one does not work, think or prepare for what might come, one will not have anything to offer to thsoe who might have a problem.”

“Instead of devoting their time to stealing money from this country, the government should have thought more about developing social housing including not only one unit but whole blocks of apartments. Housing would have been another tool to help people find a solution,” he said.

Following Grech’s speech, Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi counter-argued that this a government which is putting forward a credible and strong solutation that is meant to create a balance between the rights of tenants as well as owners.

“The current situation was not being addressed properly, thus this is a bill which is responding in a mature and thoughtful way to actually address this reality.”

With reference to Grech’s statement saying that ‘the government is only concerned with money’, Zrinzo replied that “when proposing reforms, one must to do so with credibility and state what will proposed, how much it will cost and how it will be carried out.”