1 comment.Incentives needed to entice empty properties to be utilised – ADPD
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ADPD-The Green Party have questioned why permits for new buildings continue to be approved when the number of empty or underutilised houses is equivalent to six times the size of Sliema.
ADPD – The Green Party Chairperson Sandra Gauci said that ADPD has been insisting that there should be as many incentives as possible to entice property to be utilised.
She insisted that “in the case of a property that, despite the incentives, is left empty for a long time, there should be fiscal disincentives to discourage this behaviour. This will contribute to reducing the price of rents and also more reasonable property prices.”
Party chairperson Carmel Cacopardo pointed out that the 2021 census report published earlier this week once again shows that the property that is being left empty along with underutilised property (secondary residences and vacation rentals) continues to increase.
“From 297,304 residences recorded in the Census, 81,613 of them were classified together as a property that is not used, or that is being used little. This means that 27.5% of the residential property on a national level is either empty or barely used. This is of concern,” he said.
In fact, results from the 2021 Census on population released by the National Statistics Office, found that in Gozo almost half of the dwellings comprising the total stock were secondary, seasonally used or vacant (45%).
He stated that “with more than 80,000 empty or barely utilised properties nationally, what sense does it make to continue issuing permits for large-scale development that continue to add to the accumulated amount of vacant properties?”
Cacopardo went on to say that “in spite of more than 80,000 empty or underutilised properties we still have a waiting list at the Housing Authority for those looking for alternative accommodation.”
“The Housing Authority should make use of the empty property that already exists and not continue to build more and more housing,” Cacopardo concluded.
File photo: Gozo News/Alain Salvary
Don’t think developers should get incentives, they should be penalised if they leave properties unfinished or unsold or rented. Fines for empty property would be better than tempting them to just keep building and pocketing incentives!