Affordable Housing Foundation Sets Fixed Prices To Help Families Buy Homes
The Foundation has set fixed prices for affordable housing units, ensuring families can actually afford them without having to compete in the property market.
Speaking during the conference “A Place to Call Home: Reimagining Homelessness,” Affordable Housing experts explained that while wages are rising, they’re doing so at a much slower pace than property prices, leaving many Maltese families unable to afford a home.
“This is creating a stretched class — families who can’t afford market prices but also don’t qualify for social assistance. Our goal is to make affordable housing options available so that more people can live a decent and stable life,” Azzopardi explained.
While the government offers subsidies to help families cope with rising housing costs, Azzopardi said the foundation has adopted a different approach.
Instead, the Foundation has set fixed prices for affordable housing units, ensuring families can actually afford them without having to compete in an inflated property market.
The model, he said, benefits everyone; the private sector still makes a profit, the government recovers land and resource costs and families gain a fair chance at home ownership.
The discussion formed part of the Anti-Poverty Forum’s annual conference, organised this year in collaboration with the Promise Research Cluster within the University of Malta’s Faculty for Social Wellbeing. The event (the Promise Cluster’s first) was held under the auspices of President Dr Miriam Spiteri Debono at Verdala Palace.