A Labour Party that is true to its roots and principles would start a serious discussion on a very fundamental issue of the future generations of Maltese: where are they going to live?
So far, the home ownership rates look good, but when you look at the increasing statistic of young people that can not afford to buy a home,ย it is obvious that there is a problem. With an average and median salary of around ย2,000 andย rents going for minimum of ย1500 for an apartment, a ย500 for a room, it is obvious why young people are increasingly finding it difficult to afford to live on their own.
This is one of the most fundamental issues the country faces right now because it impacts demographics, economy, culture and our way of life. It is also one of the most determining factors that will shape future generations, not to mention it is also the determining factor to the physical landscape.
At the current trend, property prices will increase as we keep up our vision of becoming a foreign rich-man’s playground. To turn this around there are many essential and inevitable solutions that need to be implemented, but none so far have been on the table. There is the issue of the productivity rate which needs to increase so as to reduce the rate of workers required by the economy. Changes to the planning policy to allow for the development of smart high-rises in certain areas so as to rapidly increase the supply of apartments.ย Also decrease the dependence on the tourism industry and turn to other more highly productive industries, and basically do the opposite of what the current government is doing by importing thousands of cheap tourists via government subsidies.
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
Leave a Reply