PN reaffirms promise to reverse social housing rent increases

The government has not only failed to deliver on its pre-election promise to wipe away poverty, but had instead increased the rent for social housing, while a higher cost of living pushed more people to the verge of poverty, according to opposition spokesperson for social policy Paula Mifsud Bonnici.

She was addressing a press conference on Friday with the PN spokesperson for housing Stephen Spiteri, held in front of the Housing Authority in Floriana.

Mifsud Bonnici said that increasing in rent was a form of taxation on poverty and that was why a Nationalist government would return the rent rates to what they were before the increase imposed by the current administration.

She said that in some cases, families renting social housing were now paying as much as four times in rent as they were before the last election.

“There are around 15,000 families staying in social housing, and most of them are elderly people or families with a very low income,” she said.

Mifsud Bonnici said that in his speech during Wednesday’s mass meeting in Floriana, PN leader Simon Busuttil had also announced that a Nationalist government would introduce greater subsidies for low-income families who rent private property.

“The PN does not believe in controlling the private sector, but is committed to seeing social justice,” she said.

She said that many families on a low income were now finding it difficult to pay their social housing rent.

“In many cases, the rent has been increased to €500 per month, and someone on minimum wage would only be left with around €200 each month for living expenses.”

Spiteri said that poverty was on the increase under this Labour government, with the number of people on the verge of poverty rising from 88,000 in 2013 to 94,250 this year.

It was ironic, he said, that while people in power at Castille where being accused of graft and corruption and of opening secret Panama bank accounts, thousands of Maltese families where not coping with the high cost of living and were living on the verge of poverty.

“Low-income families saw their annual expenses increase by €800 each year under this administration,” he said. “And this has been confirmed by Caritas and government statistics.”