People Shouldn’t Suffer Higher Property Prices Due To New EU Climate Law, Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi Insists
Extra construction costs as a result of proposed new EU climate change rules should not be burdened by consumers, Planning Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi stressed.
Speaking in Parliament today, Zrinzo Azzopardi addressed the growing controversy surrounding the European Parliament’s vote in favour of an updated Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.
“The EU is giving ever-clearer indications that buildings should be more energy efficient so as to reduce energy consumption as part of its decarbonisation strategy,” the minister said in Parliament.
“While it’s important for buildings to be energy efficient, we need to hold an open discussion with the private sector and professionals. We need solutions that will see buildings become energy efficient, without people suffering as a result. Solutions must be energy efficient and financially efficient too.”
Zrinzo Azzopardi didn’t expand further on how consumers can be shielded from further increases in property prices.
The EU’s new plan states that all new buildings should have zero carbon emissions by 2028, as part of the ‘European Green Deal’ for EU member states to be climate neutral by 2050.
However, there have been serious concerns that energy-efficient solutions – such as double-glazed windows, smart lighting systems, solar panels, heat pumps and floor to ceiling insulation – will ultimately be more expensive.
The strong likelihood is that developers won’t absorb all these extra costs and will pass on at least some of them to consumers, increasing the price of property even further.
Indeed, PN MEP candidate Peter Agius estimated – citing an unnamed architectural firm – that an average three-bedroom apartment could become €36,000 more expensive.
Four of Malta’s MEPs – excluding Josianne Cutajar who was absent for the vote and Roberta Metsola who hasn’t cast votes since becoming EP President – voted against these new measures out of concern that they will inflate the property market.
“While it is good to show ambition on environmental targets, it is madness that we are ignoring the realities of particular member states like Malta which have significant geographical limitations,” PL MEP Alex Agius Saliba said after the vote.
“It is even crazier that the European Parliament is indirectly placing more burdens on new homeowners, particularly young first-time buyers. Although I am in a minority, I believe this legal package proposed by the European Parliament will put Maltese consumers at a major disadvantage.”
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