Valletta and Floriana calling:

Valletta and Floriana are so special that they rightly deserve a seperate analysis to themselves. Last week we announced the building of a second Category 1 sheltered housing project in Valletta, following the first of its kind in Malta in Floriana last year.

These small scale housing projects provide easy to manage housing for our senior citizens in the hearts of our towns and villages, so that they can remain close to all local facilities.

They have been warmly welcomed by those organisations which so well represent the national interests of elderly people and we will build or rehabilitate more of such housing, giving priority to those who often live in the oldest and worst housing - older people themselves!

Another new concept we are going to introduce here is the concept of the responsible tenant with one flat allocated to an older person (50+) who can help with small tasks, such as changing light bulbs while serving as a focal point for these pensioner residents.

The following analysis mirrors the analysis we have made of Cottonera and central Malta, two areas where so many requests for housing help have originated.

Although Valletta and Floriana are relatively small areas, almost ten per cent of requests for repairs actually came in from these localities. However many came in from government housing, reflecting the large amount of government stock in these towns. Valletta and Floriana also have a large number of requests under our disability scheme, reflecting the undoubtedly large number of elderly people who live in these localities

Scheme Z - adaptation works in owner occupied properties

This scheme had very low participaption and reflected only two per cent of schemes nationally. Most applicants were married or single. More than half the applicants lived in a substandard enviroment while half needed a new bathroom or improvements to an existing one

Scheme W - repair works in government properties

As in Cottonerea this is the scheme with the highest level of participation and represents 16.3% of applications nationally. Most applicants were married (35.6%), single (19.2%) or widowed (23.3%). It is important to consider that 49 children benefited from these repair works too and it is in fact this scheme where the highest number of children benefit.

The age of applicants as to be expected in government housing is high and ranges from applicants who are 26 to those who are 92 with the average age being 56.

Once again the most popular improvment to the home was a new bathroom with 70% needing this as well as work on apertures and doors. A considerable number also needed new floor tiles and work on their water and electricity.

Scheme 5 - Repair works in leased privately owned properties

Interestingly the majority of applicants here are single in percentage terms (33.3%) while 25% are married and 21% widowed. Here, while we had the usual high incidence of requests for a bathroom or a new one, there was also a considerable number with a dangerous structure in their home. While 56.9% needed changes to their bathroom, 27% had danger - a relatively high percentage. The average payment here was around Lm1,200.

Scheme R - rent subsidy

This scheme had the least number of applications from these localities probably reflecting, as in Cottonera, that few are paying any sort of rent which could be eligible for a subsidy.

While in most respects in terms of applications to the Housing Authority most applicants are similar to those from Cottonera, in this scheme we had a much higher participation rate than in Cottonera.

In fact 10% of all our disability applications come from Valletta and Floriana. The average age is around 69 but some applicants were still teenagers while the oldest applicant was 94. In fact 80% of all applicants for this scheme were over 60.

Average payments were also high for this scheme, probably because the majority needed lifting aids. While here there were 14 requests for a specially adapted bathroom, 40 needed a stairlift or lifting aids.

Valletta, particularily, but Floriana too, are historical and cultural jewels. However, we also need to remember, in any master plans we may formulate the community that makes up Valletta with a large number of older people, a high percentage of whom live only off their pension and social security.

They are in many cases income poor and living in housing which has not been well maintained, some because they never had the money to do it; others because of our culture of not repairing that which we do not own!

It is a culture that is only just, and very slowly starting to shift...