Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1041944
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 21 OCTOBER 2018 NEWS BUDGET 2019 Social bank, living wage, rent capping - anti poverty campaigners MATTHEW AGIUS ANTIPOVERTY alliance Al- leanza Kontra l-Faqar (AKF) has called for the creation of a social bank to help people become the owners of their home and the introduction of a living wage based on con- crete definitions. These definitions should include what a living wage is, what a decent life is and what objects will be used to index the living wage. AKF argued that a system of living income must be in- troduced to allow pensioners and persons on social benefits to have a guarantee of a de- cent life. The alliance also proposed a revision of the price index mechanism to reflect infla- tion on essential items such as food and rent in a more realis- tic manner. Among the more innovative suggestions in their proposals for Budget 2019, is the grant- ing of tax rebates and com- pensation to landlords who bind themselves not to in- crease their rent for 10 years, in order to stabilise the rental market. A legal framework to regu- late private rentals, estab- lishing the maximum ceiling for rent prices and length of rental is vital, said the organi- sation. "Habitation is a fundamental right and therefore the market should not be allowed to de- termine the price of housing." Investment in social and af- fordable housing should be made with an emphasis on including community spaces to foster a community spirit, it said. Other proposals include the introduction of a clear defi- nition of precarious work to eradicate it for good and ban- ning the introduction of zero hour contracts which "remove dignity from the workplace." Work contracts must be based on 40-hour working weeks, said the alliance. It also advocated the grant- ing of free access to childcare to vulnerable families and the creation of a fund to help local councils and NGOs to involve themselves in social work with vulnerable people in the local- ity. The AKF also demanded an amendment to the Employ- ment and Industrial Relations Act which currently allows for- eign workers on ships berthed in Malta to be paid far below the minimum wage in Malta. magius@mediatoday.com.mt Government, co-ops should build housing on non-profit basis MASSIMO COSTA RENT contracts should have a minimum threshold attached to them in terms of their dura- tion, together with incentives for landlords offering leases of a longer duration, NGOs have said. In a press conference yester- day on the White Paper on rent regulation published this week, a coalition of NGOs said they were welcoming the government's proposals, noting that several of their suggestions on the matter had been taken up. The NGOs said the govern- ment's two propositions in the White Paper, of either setting a minimum contract term or offer- ing tax incentives should be com- bined, with landlords paying less tax on rental income the longer the lease term they offer is. Since the White Paper did not itself suggest a minimum term, the NGOs proposed that con- tracts should not be less than three years in length. "The paper is the first step," Moviment Graffiti activist An- dre Callus said, "It's a good move, but it won't solve everything." "The White Paper places em- phasis on stabilising contracts and setting rules on minimum terms. But it doesn't address the issue of high prices much – this needs to be dealt with in a better way." In connection to the exceptions which allow landlords to termi- nate rent contracts before their expiry, proposed by the White Paper, the NGOs said that such exceptions should never come into effect within the first three years of the contract. This would give tenants peace of mind that the landlord cannot evict them within this period. The NGOs said that while con- tract prices should be allowed to be increased year on year, this should – rather than be pegged to the Property Price Index, as suggested by the White Paper – be connected to the Cost of Liv- ing Index. "This will ensure that tenants are able to afford the increase," Callus said. Price stabilisation still has to be addressed, however, he said, and while the White Paper addressed contract terms, prices were only marginally discussed, the NGOs said. In light of this, the NGOs sug- gested that there should be a limit of a 10% increase over the previous rent price when a con- tract is either renewed or when a new tenant starts renting the property. The NGOs went on to pro- pose the creation of a Rent Value Index, listing rent value in different areas and for differ- ent classes of property. Rents should not be more than 10% higher than the value of a prop- erty as identified in the index, they proposed. They said they agreed whole- heartedly with the protective measures laid out in the White Paper, but added that there should be strong dissuasive measures and sanctions deter- ring landlords from renting without a valid contract. Moreover, tenants who report landowners for not providing a contract, or for contract ir- regularities, should be protected from eviction, they said. Other measures suggested by the NGOs are the creation of a tenants' union, a nationwide in- formation campaign on tenants' and landlords' rights and obliga- tions, and the establishment of a public agency responsible for private residential leases. Finally, they said that tenants with existing lease agreements should be protected from being evicted or from being subjected to a large and unaffordable in- crease to the property's rental price. To solve this, the NGOs said that landlords should be obliged to allow the tenants to continue living in the property and paying rent for a term not less than one third of the total time they had been renting the unit. The NGOs said that, currently, the government is only involved in building social housing. They suggested that the hous- ing supply should not only de- pend on the private sector, un- derlining that the government and non-profit setups should build units to be leased at afford- able prices, whilst still generating rental revenue. This would serve to increase the stock of housing, as well as to provide the state with revenue while improving affordability. mcosta@mediatoday.com.mt MASSIMO COSTA ALTERNATTIVA Demokra- tika has said the White Paper on rent, published this week, was a step forward but the proposed exceptions justify- ing early termination of lease agreements should not be fol- lowed through. If the White Paper's other proposals are implemented, this would serve to ensure the residential market is stable and fair for both landlords and ten- ants, AD said. But the Green Party said they should be considered in detail, so as to avoid any unnecessary difficulties created by them. "When considering the White Paper proposals on the termi- nation of leases, AD thinks that the proposed exceptions which seek to justify an early termina- tion by landlords, in order to facilitate a sale with vacant pos- session, or for redevelopment purposes, should be discarded," party chairperson Carmel Ca- copardo said at a press confer- ence in Bormla yesterday. "The reasons which the White Paper uses to justify early termination should only be acceptable for non-renewal of leases, but not for their early termination," he said. Cacopardo highlighted that, as pointed out in the White Pa- per, Malta has in the past had rigid systems of control which negatively impacted the rental market, sometimes going from one extreme to the other. "It is therefore reasonable that, subject to the White Pa- per's proposed exceptions, the minimum length of leases be of one year and that adequate notice be given when leases are not to be renewed," he said, dif- fering in his suggestion from that put forward by an NGO coalition earlier yesterday, which maintained the mini- mum length period should be of three years. "It is also about time that de- posits requested by landlords relative to damages, unpaid bills or other matters should be regulated by law, as this is a matter in respect of which various conflicts arise continu- ously," Cacopardo emphasised. He added that in order for the residential property market to be stabilised, it is not enough to regulate private sector leasing. "It is also important that ac- cess to the social accommoda- tion available is facilitated for those in vulnerable sectors. Social accommodation should not be sold, but should remain in use as intended, that is, as accommodation for social pur- poses," he said. Greens: ditch early contract termination