The Housing Authority has been handed 11 freshly-refurbished units by the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation to use for social housing as part of a project to regenerate Valletta.

Keys to the units were handed over to the government on Wednesday after extensive refurbishing was carried out on a once-dilapidated building on Carmelite Street. 

“Providing social housing doesn’t just mean building new homes. It also involves finding dilapidated places and regenerating them,” Prime Minister Robert Abela said at the event.

The prime minister said he was very fond of so-called "social regeneration" and he hoped the idea that social housing could not be of the highest standards would soon be a concept of the past. 

The units unveiled on Wednesday should serve as proof, he said, adding that social housing would remain a priority, something he promised during his campaign to become Labour leader. 

On his part, Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg said that the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation (GHRC) is an entity that gets things done. 

While acknowledging the importance of such projects, the minister said the government was always seeking to ensure that more people become home-owners. People, he said, needed to be equipped with the necessary tools to be able to do so. 

On his part, Social Housing Minister Roderick Galdes said Valletta needed residents and not just shops and businesses. 

“Buildings that had been abandoned for years need to be regenerated especially to help social cases.

“This is not the only building we’re working on and we want to work with various entities on this,” he said. 

GHRC chairman and Parliamentary Secretary for European Funds Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi explained the project was part of efforts to explore new ways of regeneration that “helps people”.