Housing Authority receives 36 proposals for 950 units

The Ministry for Social Solidarity has received 45 proposals for “innovative" social housing in a call for applications issued last January.

Nine were turned down for not fulfilling criteria, but 36 proposals have been shortlisted for the provision of around 950 housing units. 

Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said the 36 proposals would reduce the waiting list for social housing by one-third, currently standing at 3,300. 

The proposals which demanded an outright sale of property to the Housing Authority were amongst those which were turned down. The other proposals asked for payments spread out over a period of time, or swapping of land owned by the Housing Authority.

Other methods of payment included settling existing debt that contractors have with the government.  “This is in line with the approach we adopted the past year to strengthen the role of the Housing Authority and make it viable, in a way that we enable it to carry out its core business,” Coleiro Preca said, referring to the financial burden the authority had to face in recent years. 

She added that the ministry was also looking into the possibility of a social rent policy, where applicants who are currently on the housing waiting list would benefit from subsidies.

This would enable them to rent a place on their own without depending on the housing authority, further reducing the waiting list in the process. 

Coleiro Preca also announced the authority’s intention to increase accessibility of current units with the introduction of elevators. 

“€2 million will be allocated for this measure, which will be taken from the capital acquired through the ‘Sir Sid Darek’ campaign. This would address the problems faced by families who live on the highest floors of a housing estate,” she said.

The call for applications for innovative housing was launched in January and closed after 30 days. It aimed at reducing the housing waiting list through public-private partnerships.