The last time I addressed Parliament a few days ago, I reiterated that the principal aim of politics should be to create a country where the future generations' aspirations may be met. The only way to renew ourselves as a nation is to make sure that the youths that are on their way up in society can dream of building their future here, among us, in this country.

While it is true that the desire to become a homeowner has its socio-cultural roots in specific circumstances that arose in the past couple of decades, it cannot nonetheless be denied that in Malta this desire to own our own residence remains very much alive and kicking. One can understand this desire since it represents the step which provides the greatest stability and certainty in the long-term to whoever embarks upon it. Despite our best efforts in these past couple of years to regulate and financially incentivise players to create the conditions for a stable rental market, which does not intimidate people who turn towards it, the main aim of Maltese families and young individuals remains that of acquiring their own property and becoming owners.

Therefore, the affordability of the property sector is one of the main pillars, together with other essential matters, that will make or break the dream of future generations of building their future in this country.

Government has acknowledged this sentiment for a long time. It is a feeling that we've gauged throughout this past decade as the property market fast became one of the sectors which witnessed the sharpest increases in prices; a hike which was linked directly to the unprecedented growth in our economy. 

Our challenge remains that of balancing the need of keeping the investment flowing in the property sector since it is a vital component of our economic machinery and at the same time ensuring that substantial parts of this market remain accessible to those who are trying to enter the market for the first time - the so-called "first-time buyers" cohort.

I've wasted no time since the commencement of my new tenure as Minister for Social and Affordable Accommodation to make it crystal clear that the main challenge ahead of us shall be of tackling the affordability of housing. Our intentions were made even clearer when we immediately started a wide-ranging consultation exercise that involved youths at the forefront of the discussion. We also had lengthy talks with commercial banks that have a central position in the property market since they finance most purchases through loan facilities available to private clients.

This process led us to announce a very strong measure in this legislature's first Budget, a measure which shall impact virtually all first-time buyers. This measure shall alleviate a significant portion of the burden carried by individuals and young families, who have just started their independent lives and have finally succeeded in purchasing their first residential property after many months of sacrifice. Through this measure, government shall grant the sum of €10,000 to every first-time buyer in the first 10 years of the loan repayment period undertaken with the commercial bank of their choice. As promised in the electoral manifesto, this measure shall be open to all those who have finalised the purchase of their first property from the beginning of the calendar year 2022 onwards.

This measure truly represents the boost that youths need to make the next step.

When one considers the fact that we have thousands of first-time buyers every year, one may appreciate that this substantial measure shall represent a significant financial outlay on the part of the government. It is also testimony to the government's willingness to listen and understand the sentiment of future generations in respect to these challenges and its commitment to make available any and all instruments at its disposal to youths, so they may be able to transform their dream of growing and building their future in Malta, into a viable reality.

Announcing new measures is a positive thing, but it's even better when an existing measure is followed up, adapted and optimised according to the needs of the day. That is what we've done with the 10% Deposit Payment scheme, which is also open to first-time buyers and which is now being strengthened through an extension which shall cover up to a maximum property value of €225,000 - an improvement of €50,000 from the scheme as announced in 2020 and which has already helped hundreds of young persons to become homeowners.    

We did not limit ourselves to the purchase of property, but in line with our belief that the housing sector is a diverse and heterogenous policy area, we have also intervened in the rental market, and we have also been pro-active in this sense during this year's budget. In fact, this budget strengthened the private rent housing benefit scheme. This benefit, which takes into consideration the income of a family unit and what it is actually spending on rent, has been strengthened to respond to the most recent developments in the local rental market, developments which we can now gauge with more precision than ever through the rental price indexes which we are measuring in real-time.

One must therefore recapitulate that these measures will continue to strengthen the social programme which the Housing Authority has undertaken since existing affordability measures, as well as adaptation and regeneration schemes shall continue to operate and shall be sustained accordingly.

In the current global climate, rife with economic and social uncertainty, this Budget has once again shown that government is in tune with the people's sentiments and preoccupations and that it wastes no time in acting in a decisive and effective manner. In the housing sector, we have once again intervened strongly to make sure that everyone has an adequate and affordable array of choices to suit his or her housing needs.