Without a shadow of a doubt, 2020 shall forever be remembered as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact which the coronavirus has left on our personal lives and our collective way of being cannot be understated.

In such circumstances, one may be forgiven in thinking that the government put all its efforts into combating the spread of this novel infectious disease, placing all other sectors of governance on the backburner. However, when analysing the State’s efforts towards ensuring adequate housing for all its citizens, it can be immediately discerned that the previous assumption could not be further from the truth. 

Last year, the housing sector received unprecedented attention and has risen to a new level of pre-eminence with the elevation of the social accommodation portfolio to a ministry in its own right. Social Accommodation Minister Roderick Galdes has managed to build upon his achievements as parliamentary secretary with the implementation of the long-awaited rent reform.

Contrary to what many might have expected, in the transitory year of the reform around 33,500 private lease agreements were registered with the Housing Authority’s rent registration unit.

The smooth transition to a new regulatory regime in the private lease sector was not the only feather in the ministry’s cap. In 2020, the ministry announced Malta’s first-ever affordable housing project in the Tal-Patri area of Fgura, with an investment of €10 million going towards the development of 118 apartments, earmarked to be leased at affordable rates to individuals and families who do not qualify for social housing but have difficulties accessing the rental market.

The year 2020 was also a year of unprecedented hope for individuals on the waiting list for social accommodation. Apart from a noteworthy decrease in pending applicants for alternative accommodation, with the current tally standing at around 2,400 applicants, last year saw the development of social accommodation units reaching the latter stages of construction and finishing in Birkirkara, Kirkop, Attard and Żebbuġ. The ministry also secured an allocation of €1 million to fund four new projects of specialised accommodation. 

Apart from the construction of new units of social and specialised housing, 2020 was another year of success in the ministry’s efforts to regenerate existing public housing units. 500 families in Siġġiewi, Rabat, Bormla, Santa Luċija, St. Julian’s and Żabbar have benefited from an investment of €2.5 million in the renovation of formerly derelict housing estates.

The ministry also launched two flagship schemes in 2020:  a scheme on the 10% deposit for the purchase of a property and the ‘Sens-Ability’ scheme. The 10% deposit initiative has already helped more than 200 young first-time buyers become home-owners through an interest-free loan covering the customary one-tenth deposit required prior to the execution of the promise of sale agreement.

On the other hand, the ‘Sens-Ability’ scheme financially assists parents, guardians or siblings of children, adolescents and young adults on the autism spectrum in the purchase and installation of sensory equipment to be used in the household, upon the advice of occupational therapists working in the field.

Last but not least, 2020 also saw the ministry initiate the design of Malta’s first-ever national housing system, a rights-based strategy which shall provide a clear plan of action for the local housing sector in the medium to long-term. To this end, in August 2020, more than 50 stakeholders convened in a fruitful two-day workshop to discuss the future of housing.

In 2021, the Social Accommodation Ministry shall continue fulfilling its vision of providing all members of society, particularly the vulnerable, with adequate accommodation that reflects the needs of a modern family. As we embark upon another challenging and frenetic year, we shall look back at the remarkable achievements of the ministry’s maiden year with great satisfaction and dignified pride.