Proposals to regularise spiralling rental market

A rental registry, tax incentives for long lets, and price hike brackets tied to cost of living adjustments are among the rent regulation proposals put forward by a coalition of 17 NGOs. “Malta has almost no regulation in the rental market, and the law of the jungle currently applies. This is forcing many tenants to lead precarious lives, with only temporary roofs over their head and no place to call home,” the coalition said at a press conference on Saturday. In a 12-page document, the NGOs argue that “skyrocketing” rental prices over the last few years have been hitting vulnerable groups the hardest. “Tenants regularly paying their rent are finding themselves forced out of their homes due to overnight exorbitant increases in rent prices,” they said. This reality was also increasingly affecting groups such as youths, some of whom had no other option but to live in rented accommodation due to unaffordable property prices. As the cost of buying one's own home continued its steep rise, the number of Maltese living in rented accommodation was destined to increase and, in a few years, it would no longer be uncommon for Maltese people to live in rented places, they predicted.