Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1248303
11 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 MAY 2020 OPINION Leonid MacKay Leonid MacKay is CEO of the Housing Authority Housing is back on the agenda I will disclose a personal expe- rience when almost two years back I was considering the role of a Chief Executive Officer of the Housing Authority: I only took this responsibility be- cause I have seen a return of government taking an active and direct role to shape hous- ing policy in Malta. This was not simply a concep- tual objective. Shaping hous- ing policy in concrete terms is about rental market regulation, the provision of affordable housing through self-financing models, facilitating home own- ership schemes for low to me- dium income (including other groups in insecure status) and a real drive to address those awaiting social housing. The recent rebranding of the Housing Authority was based on the affirmation that ade- quate and affordable housing is a fundamental human right. This statement might be con- sidered radical in a world driv- en by deregulation and priva- tisation, yet the Authority has made it its mission to realise this right in practice. The recent site visit at the Birkirkara new social housing project gave us not only an opportunity to review the pro- gress of the ongoing works, but also that of the housing strate- gy in general. The construction of circa 1,700 new social hous- ing units manifests the state's return to an active role in the building sector, hence, in shap- ing domestic housing policy in a more decisive manner. Social housing constitutes only one of the building blocks for an effective plan to elimi- nate housing distress within the community, yet it repre- sents the essential foundation for this structure. Contemporary discourse has, very often, put in doubt the need for government to build its own stock of housing. The more common allegations in- clude the self-inflicted plight of low-income individuals and the alleged unaccountability of the management of these units. Reality could not be more different. The units under construc- tion will in a few years' time, be able to guarantee a decent livelihood to families with dis- abled children, who cannot af- ford market prices due to one of the parents' inability to ap- ply for employment. These units will also be hous- ing middle-aged individuals whose illness simultaneously imposes additional medical expenses as well as limitations to their income-earning po- tential. Clients who are currently on the waiting list are victims of domestic abuse, with depend- ent children, currently being forced to live in rented accom- modation. The duty to provide public housing is paramount, howev- er, the challenge does not end there. During the past months the Housing Authority has been devising a number of schemes targeting households at dif- ferent life stages and income levels. Our aim is that of building a social ladder which would, progressively, lessen the household's dependence on government whilst inspiring upward mobility in society. The strategy, which includes a number of schemes which have either been revised or created during the past months, may be largely sub- divided into four incremental layers: social (welfare) hous- ing, affordable housing, subsi- dised private renting and sub- sidized home-ownership. Specialised and affordable housing projects, subsidies on private rents, the regulation of the private rental market, so- cial loans and equity sharing (or co-ownership) schemes should not be viewed as spo- radic measures aimed at the temporary alleviation of hous- ing exclusion, but as constit- uent elements of a coherent policy meant to strengthen our clients' role within the com- munity. It is through this vision for a healthy and enterprising soci- ety, in which the State is a key driver, that the Authority aims to fulfil everyone's entitlement to adequate accommodation and individual wellbeing.