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The Maltese Herald

A moratorium on high-rise towers would raise property prices

—

by

Mark Camilleri
in

Another major problem with Arnold Cassola’s party is that its policies don’t make sense. Another point that was made during Jon Mallia’s show called Il-Kazin, was the uncontrolled construction frenzy. Both ADPD and Arnold Cassola’s Momentum seem to agree that a moratorium on the construction of high-rises is a good solution.

I don’t know from where they are getting these strange ideas, but building more high-rises and towers is actually the only solution to significantly control property prices as the population keeps growing. High-rises don’t necessarily need to be luxury apartment-units, they can also serve as smart and affordable housing which we desperately need.

Regulating the type of high-rises built is a different story. Developers are currently building high-rise towers exclusively for rich clients,  but this can be addressed by regulation.

Third-parties have to leave their activist mindset and engage in politics more as serious policy makers that can be trusted, but they need to have serious plans which make sense to do this. They can’t just shoot ideas from the hip.

 

Comments

  1. Brian avatar
    Brian

    The show is called Il-Kazin

    Reply
  2. Franco Galea avatar
    Franco Galea

    1. Even your idol Sandra Gauci spoke in favour of the moratorium.
    2. The idea that building vertically will solve the property inflation is a joke. The only towers built in Malta are high-end targeted at money launderers.
    3. The only way to solve property inflation is to address real estate hoarders (those owning tens of properties and affording to expand their portfolio on a regular basis). This can easily be solved through an incremental property tax. Of course politicians will never do it because of their assorted conflicts of interest.

    Reply
  3. Jess avatar
    Jess

    What makes you think the population will keep growing? There is nothing to indicate this.
    The last census showed that the population of the Maltese has already begun to shrink and there are clear signs that it is going to continue to do so at a rapid rate.
    As for the foreigners who work in Malta, most of them are employed in jobs that provide services for the Maltese such as the healthcare and retail sectors. So it stands to reason that if the population of the Maltese declines, there will be fewer employment opportunities for them and so the country would need fewer foreign nationals.

    Reply
  4. L'Aquila avatar
    L'Aquila

    Mela il-Gvern socjalista taht Mintoff, bena il-middle class u il-familji Maltin kwazi kulhadd kin joqghod go terraced house kbira, f’garage u gnien, u hafna nies kinu jaffordjawa dil-haga. Issa jigi dal-gvern jghidilna li orrajt toqod go flat toqba u li jiswa 400k euro. Dan kollu ghax il-big business irid il-barranin jahdmu hawn ghal pagi mizeri, u habba f’hekk il propjeta gholiet fil prezz b’mod drastiku ghax dal-gvern hekk irid halli jikkuntenta id developers lobby u min qed jikri.

    Se mai Cassola irid jillimita li Malta tispicca tigi qisa Hong Kong mela inkomplu nibnu torrijiet biex inpaxxu lil businesses u il-barranin li gabu huma?

    Reply
  5. Joseph Markham avatar
    Joseph Markham

    Not if we stop selling passports and somehow control the flow of (illicit) money which ends up as concrete 😉

    Reply
  6. Banquo avatar
    Banquo

    Thank you for bringing some sense to the discussion about building in Malta. Something that irks me about green NGOs is that they protest against building both horizontally and building vertically.

    That is not a serious policy which takes into consideration the needs of current and future generations looking for somewhere to live. That is the privileged position of someone who has bought a nice house with a view and cares more about being undisturbed than other people also gaining that privilege.

    Reply
  7. Astrid Vella avatar
    Astrid Vella

    Mark, building high rise is very expensive in Malta so no one would consider it for low-cost properties. You’re overlooking the fact besides construction costs, maintenance and utilities are much higher too, because the higher you go, the more heating and cooling you need, as well as use of elevators, so, contrary to what certain used to claiem, architects claim, they are not environmental either. The high-rise expert brought over by MEPA from Chicago in 2011 had also reported that maintenance costs would be higher in Malta due to the impact of sun and sea-salt on concrete and steel.

    Also keep in mind the impact of high-rise on the surrounding communities, rendering solar panels useless, and blocking light and air from surrounding buildings. By creating urban heat canyons, high-rise buildings heavily dependent on ACs, raise the ambient temperature by 1 – 2 degrees, reducing the quality of life for surrounding residents, many of whom are old and can’t afford AC themselves.

    The solution lies in all the unoccupied buildings in Malta as mentioned above. In the 2011 census, that was calculated at some 28% of all housing units.

    Reply
  8. Astrid Vella avatar
    Astrid Vella

    Mark, building high rise is very expensive in Malta so no one would consider it for low-cost housing. You’re overlooking the fact besides construction costs, maintenance and utilities are much higher too, because the higher you go, the more heating and cooling you need, as well as use of elevators, so, contrary to what certain architects used to claim, they are not environmental either. The high-rise expert brought over by MEPA from Chicago in 2011 had also reported that maintenance costs would be higher in Malta due to the impact of sun and sea-salt on concrete and steel.

    Also keep in mind the impact of high-rise on the surrounding communities, rendering solar panels useless, and blocking light and air from surrounding buildings. By creating urban heat canyons, high-rise buildings heavily dependent on ACs, raise the ambient temperature by 1 – 2 degrees, reducing the quality of life for surrounding residents, many of whom are old and can’t afford AC themselves.

    The solution lies in all the unoccupied buildings in Malta as mentioned above. In the 2011 census, that was calculated at some 28% of all housing units.

    Reply
  9. manifhimx avatar
    manifhimx

    Malta’s high rise policy,whilst being in it’s embryonic stage must consider seriously that high rise buildings should be concentrated in the central areas of Malta and not on the shore front. In this way, more can be built whilst less outward views towards the shores of Malta will be ruined.

    Reply

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