Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1016519
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 19 AUGUST 2018 YANNICK PACE THE bottom 50% of earn- ers in Malta have seen their percentage share of rental in- come double since 2012, data provided by the National Sta- tistics Office shows. Earlier this month, MaltaTo- day reported Maltese house- holds' income from rent has increased by 132% between 2014 and 2017, rising from €36.9 million to €85.8 million. According to the data, 15.4% of all rental income in 2017 went to the bottom 50% of earners in Malta, up from 6.1% in 2011, indicating that income from rent is being spread over a larger segment of the population. A complimentary trend was noticed with the top 10% of earners, who saw their share of income from rent fall by roughly 9%, although the NSO said that the figures should be analysed with caution ow- ing to the fact that survey re- sponses for this category were very low. The rental market has ex- ploded in recent years, with those who do not own their own home struggling to make ends meet. On the other hand many Maltese families have found themselves an entirely new source of revenue by renting out their summer apartments or by developing previously held plots of land. In fact, the number of reg- istered rental holiday apart- ments almost doubled be- tween 2013 and 2017, rising from 1,095 to 1,986. The NSO's data appears to confirm what economist Phil- ip von Brockdorff told Malta- Today earlier this month, that while rental prices had in- creased, the figures suggested the increase was also due to more people renting out their own property. "Rents have increased, which contributes to the larger amount recorded by the NSO but there is also a phenom- enon of more people renting out idle property they owned, such as summer homes, and others who have bought apartments to rent them out," Brockdorff said. Despite the increased in- come from rent, this made up only 1.5% of all household in- come in 2017. Von Brockdorff also noted that due to low interest rates, income from bank interest and dividends was less lucrative, pushing people towards the property market. "The rental yield is phenom- enal when compared to other countries and in the current low interest rate environment, the options to invest have been narrowed down, which has prompted people to buy property to let," he said. NEWS Authority says no to illegal Rabat zoo JAMES DEBONO THE Environment and Re- sources Authority has de- scribed a proposal to regu- larize the illegally-developed Serengeti Animal Park along Dingli road in Rabat as a fla- grant example of development carried out in the absence of any "environmental considera- tions whatsoever" which has re- sulted in "illegal commitments and excessive land-take at the expense of the countryside". The owners of the zoo want to have four cages regularized: one cage is listed as being able to hold eight tigers, another to hold three lions, another for three jaguars and one for three leopards. The ERA has insisted that the applicant who has applied for a change-of-use from a cow- breeding farm to an exotic animal farm should not be re- warded through "retroactive sanctioning". In a report assessing this appli- cation, the ERA contends that the various cages, stores, paving and other scattered structures have committed the whole site which is approximately 2,400 sq.m in size. "Most of the area has been cleared from soil and replaced with hard landscaping and beaten earth." In 2017 the PA regularized "extensive works" on an ad- jacent site belonging to zoo owner Brian Azzopardi despite the ERA's recommendation for refusal. The works included ex- tensive paving around a dwell- ing originally approved in 2007. In a separate report the Su- perintendence for Cultural Heritage has also objected to the proposed development ap- plication which is resulting in "the incremental degradation of an archaeologically sensitive area". The cultural heritage watch- dog alerted the Planning Au- thority to the presence of ex- tensive caves located beneath the animal park, which is acces- sible from an adjacent property belonging to the same owner. The Superintendence also expressed its concern that un- monitored works had already been carried out on archeologi- cally sensitive site. "Any unre- ported accidental discoveries made during unmonitored works are to the detriment of the archaeological record and limit our understanding of fea- tures forming part of the cul- tural landscape." Rental income for bottom 50% of earners has doubled since 2012 2011 6.1% 2012 7.4% 2013 5.2% 2014 6.5% 2015 10.1% 2016 11.7% 2017 15.4% Share of annual rental income by bottom 50% income earners Income from rents has increased from €36.9m in 2014 to €85.8m in 2017 - of this, 15.4% went to the bottom 50% of earners in Malta, up from just 6.1% in 2011