Mapping Malta’s housing future

The Maltese dream of homeownership and family life is slipping away; not because our young people have lost ambition but because Labour’s policies have lost sight of the ordinary man and woman.

Labour has prioritised speculation over shelter, turning homes into assets and communities into investment zones.

This crisis was avoidable. But I dare to hope for a reversal of our misfortunes.

Yes, we can have a country where every young person can afford a future; where the dream of homeownership is not passed down only if it there is property to be inherited. This must be something attainable by all through ambition, work and fairness.

The 2021 census suggested that more than 27% of Malta’s dwellings sit empty. Other properties have been unclaimed for generations and, having no owner, also have no user.

We need to use the available technology to shine a light that will illuminate and inform our new policies. I think it should be clear by now, from what I have been writing, that if I succeed in becoming the PN leader I will be actively harnessing technology to make our lives better.

In this case, we would use it to give Malta what many other EU countries have but which we still lack: a comprehensive, transparent map of our housing stock; a national cadastre, as it is called in France.

Since you cannot solve what you can’t see, we need to start by creating a complete digital property register.

This will give us the precise data we need to start changing things around.

With satellite imaging, AI-powered databases and census cross-checking to track every land parcel and dwelling, we will eventually find out who owns what, where and whether it’s in use.

Without this foundation, we are left guessing, unable to plan for affordability, enforce taxation fairly, or even identify the thousands of ghost properties that line our streets.

Instead, we can have a system that in real-time integrates utility data, population records and geolocation to reveal which homes are occupied, underused, or silently decaying.

I hate trying to reinvent the wheel. I seek to encourage a replication of things that have worked well for communities elsewhere: Vancouver’s Empty Homes policy, driven by data and transparency, brought thousands of units back into circulation and use.

People deserve more than a cruel concrete jungle- Adrian Delia

Vacant, abandoned properties in a housing crisis are not a private affair: they’re a national missed opportunity.

In Helsingborg, Sweden, a social experiment called Sällbo redefined community through refurbished apartment blocks housing elderly citizens and young adults under one roof. Retired teachers mentored job-seeking youth and isolated elders found kinship.

This wasn’t just housing. It was healing. We must learn from these social experiments and adapt them to what works for us.

Let’s build spaces that do more than provide basic shelter. Let’s build spaces that connect humans to each other.

And, yes, we must be brave enough to confront the financial architecture that got us here. A housing market that rewards the speculative hoarding of homes while punishing those trying to raise families is not just inefficient, it is unjust.

Fiscal policies, guided by fairness, precision and social conscience will help us achieve the goal of giving our young families a home of their own.

This is a moment of choice; not between markets and morals but between inertia and imagination.

Malta can be a country where young people don’t just survive: they stay, they grow, they build; where ageing with dignity means more than a pension: it means having a community; where planning is not reactive but visionary; where technology isn’t an ornament but the engine of justice.

Homes are not just numbers or dollar sign investments; they are foundations for family.

This is not just a housing plan. It is a social contract which we must renew together; with clarity, with courage and with the conviction that the people of Malta deserve more than a cruel concrete jungle.

The next chapter of this country’s development cannot be based on more for some and less for others. It must be built on fairness, foresight and the firm foundations of trust.

Let’s begin.

Adrian Delia is a candidate for the PN leadership.