Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/604914
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2015 7 News MATTHEW VELLA LANDLORDS will be knocking on the doors of government as the Maltese courts clear yet more cases in their favour, against ten- ants living in rent-controlled properties. But the Mifsud family, which recently lost yet another case where their tenancy in a rent- controlled property was deemed to be unconstitutional, are fight- ing back in an appeal that argues that the tenants should not be made to pay for the errors of the Maltese government. Lawyers Patrick Valentino, Ja- son Azzopardi (MP) and Kris Busietta are arguing that tenants should not have to be evicted for the fact that it was the Maltese state that never up- dated rent laws to create a fair balance between tenants and owners. Under a 1979 law intended at addressing the housing situation, a temporary em- phyteusis gets automatically converted into a permanent rental agreement, but this has been found to be illegal by both the Maltese Consti- tutional Court and the Euro- pean Court of Human Rights. While tenants could enjoy security of tenure, adding in- sult to injury was the fact that rents were kept artificially low, only doubling in value every 15 years. The government faces mil- lions in compensation claims from property owners who are attacking the unconstitu- tional law. State delays, anxious tenants According to the Code of Organisation and Civil Pro- cedure, court decisions that declare a law to be uncon- stitutional or that breaches a fundamental right, must be delivered to the Speaker of the House and tabled in the House of Representatives; and that within six months, the Prime Minister must see that the unconstitutional law is amended. It has been years since the Maltese courts upheld the Eu- ropean Court's decision on the breach of landlords' right to their property. But lawyers for the Mifsud fam- ily are fighting back with a con- stitutional appeal, arguing that the family was risking a precari- ous livelihood if evicted because of the unconstitutionality of the law – and the government's inac- tion to legislate a new law. The Mifsuds were said to be liv- ing on an annual pension income of just €11,000 while their land- lords own various properties that they rent out. In their appeal, the Mifsuds say the court should decide whether the landlords should be accorded a fairer rent – rather than up- hold the first court's decision that could lead to the tenants' eviction. The Mifsuds argue that the ECHR itself has recognised the right of a government to take measures in housing situations when it is "necessary in a demo- cratic society directed at achiev- ing a legitimate aim", and that governments that know "their society and its needs… are in principle better placed than the international judge to appreciate what is in the 'general' or 'public' interest." They go on to say that the Eu- ropean Court's case-law also says that governments must "strike a fair balance" between the inter- ests of tenants and the owners. "The tenants cannot be expect- ed to be forced to carry the bur- den of others and make good for the shortcomings of the State," the Mifsuds' lawyers argued. "The State first created a legiti- mate expectation that they could remain in their house under a rental title, and because those rental conditions were not up- dated the courts now claim they should answer for the breach of the owners' rights." Raising rents Justice minister Owen Bon- nici has already declared that the government will carry out a social impact assessment to see how increasing "miserly rents" paid to landlords would impact the tenants. The government intends to bring these leases created by the 1979 law, in line with the recent rent legal amendments of 2009 – a sure guarantee that landlords will be paid higher rents on these properties. According to an action plan it presented to the ECHR's moni- toring committee, the amend- ments will create a mechanism for the revision of the rent, as well as limit the inheritance of tenements, include the introduc- tion of a means test, and also cre- ate measures to revert the leases to their owners. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Eviction row pensioners say they should not pay for State's shortcomings More tenants in rent-controlled properties are living under the threat of eviction because of the unconstitutionality of Malta's 1979 housing decontrol rules. A new appeal is now arguing that tenants should not pay for the government's inaction over landlords' rights