Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1338076
13 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 10 FEBRUARY 2021 OPINION Ivan Bartolo Ivan Bartolo is a Member of Parliament for the Nationalist Party THE biggest joke of the century is when you hear the Government calling itself "unique" and insisting that it is supporting those indi- viduals who will be affected negatively by a recent Court ruling on residential rent. Sometimes the issue of pre-1995 protected leases arises, as the judgment justifies land- lords whose rights are being violated. I know and have met owners who are living in pov- erty and rightly fighting for what is theirs by right: enjoying the property they own and this as set out in the Constitution and even in the European Convention. On the other hand, it is alarming to see a pensioner earning a paltry €900 a month and being asked to pay €12,000 in rent a year or else being forced out from the place they call home. Many will end up in a situation where they will not even know where to go. A particular senior told me, that he is hav- ing sleepless nights with worry and during the day, he is now nervous to open any mail or answer the phone. There are many oth- ers like him who have been affected and are now worried about their future. The case of someone living on their own is different fromsomeone who looks after a vulnerable person. Now doesn't it make you wonder how these elders – who have spent their lives in the property they call home – will react when they receive a letter from the landlord announcing a rise in rent or warning them to abandon the premises? A good number of apprehensive seniors who called me said that they have contact- ed a psychiatrist as they are suffering from depression. And many said they are concerned about the indifference of the Labour Government. This government is totally beligerent to the troubles that thousands of tenants are facing and to how many of these people will end up being evicted from their homes. It is worth remembering that, by law, pre- 1995 rents are protected and therefore ten- ants have the right to continue living in the same property as long as they honour all their obligations, including timely payment of rent. Landlords cannot simply raise the rental price how ever they want, even if the current rent is not a reflection of the true market value. Rent can be increased every three years in proportion to the inflation index. And these rents can be inherited by the tenant's chil- dren only once, as long as they have always lived in the rented property since their par- ent's death. On the contrary, in the case of leases signed after 1 June 1995, landlords are not entitled to renew the lease at the end of the period agreed upon in the contract. The 2009 amendments were not only in- tended to strike a balance between the in- terest of the landlord and that of the tenants but to provide the landlord with a guarantee that they would one day get their property back. Among other measures introduced, the rent due after 1 January 2010 had to rise to € 185 per year. In 2014, a maisonette owner in Gozo had won €21,550 after a European Court con- cluded that his right to enjoy his property was being violated. This landlord had inher- ited property from his parents, which had been rented to the same tenants since 1970 for €65.22 per year. In 2018, the Government introduced amendments by removing the Housing Control to address the old rents problems, which were also the subject of decisions giv- en by the Court and the European Court of Human Rights. The amendments state that the landlord may request a tenant's means test. If the tenant does not have the means and resources to find other accommoda- tion, they will be entitled to remain in the rented residence. In such cases, the landlord can increase rent by 2%. On the other hand, if the means test shows that the tenant has enough means to find other accommodation, they are given a five- year period to to leave the property, during which they would have to pay double the rent rate. Sheltered rents were not only problematic for residential properties but for other prop- erties as well, including those rented out to band clubs. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of the owners of the building that has long been used by the King's Own Band Club in Valletta. The court had ruled that the low rents being paid by tenants were in violation of the Convention on Human Rights on a person's right to property. The owners had taken their case to the Eu- ropean Court of Human Rights after losing the case in Malta. In the face of all this, in 2019 the Government published four le- gal notices to mediate before lawsuits are brought before the Rent Regulatory Board. The law on private residential leases came into force on 1 January 2020. This law reg- ulates new leases that were to be made or to be renewed during that year. The law also applies to leases made after 1 June 1995 but before 1st January 2020 and which would still be in force on 1 January 2021. The Opposition party did not agree with certain amendments, because we saw an imbalance between landlords and tenants. In fact, the Court in Malta itself stated that these amendments were not sufficient. Judge Mark Chetcuti had said that the lat- est updates in the rent law have not helped landlords who are still being forced to ac- cept a lease much lower than the market price. Former Judge of the European Court of Human Rights, Giovanni Bonello, had ex- plained how despite the fact that the Con- stitution of Malta clearly states that laws incompatible with the Constitution are 'in- valid,' the Constitutional Court of Malta is the only one in the democratic world that has abdicated its function and left the last word in the hands of politicians. "If the Court finds that a law violates hu- man rights, according to the Constitution, that law is invalid to the challenger but valid and can be enforced for the rest," he said. On 2 December 2020, the first eviction judgment was handed down by the Board governing rent at the request of the same person, who earlier in 2020, won the Con- stitutional case against the provisions of the rent law. On the very day that this judgment of the Rent Board was handed down, the PN in Opposition urged the Government to re- assure the thousands of tenants and at the same time take care of the owners' rights. However, the Government remained in- different and silent. Completely silent. Another recent case involved a large old property in Żejtun for which tenants pay €286 a year in rent. Landlords can in no way raise or otherwise change the lease to reflect the market value, and they have now sued the goverment. Many other landlords have done the same. The Government has an obligation to address as soon as possible the rights of owners who have suffered enough over the years, and without interfering with the Court's decision. But the government must also help those people who will soon end up without a place they can call home and who will end up on the street through no fault or choice of theirs. Having done nothing in the last seven years, the least the Government can do is to ensure that social systems and adequate housing are immediately available for these people. Indifference kills