NEWS | Wednesday, 16 July 2008

TPPI think tank organises rent reform debate

The first-ever Debate to be staged by The Today Public Policy Institute, Malta’s only independent and non-partisan think-tank, took place on 10 July at the Chamber of Commerce in Valletta. A good turn-out made up of a wide range of differing interests across both the political and the social spectrum heard three distinguished opening speakers on the Rent Reform White Paper set out the position.
The first was David Spiteri Gingell, who had led the working group which led to the Governmemt’s White Paper. He set out the government’s case for achieving a balance and social justice in an area where land-lord and tenant had inevitably differing agendas with great clarity. He was followed by Dr Therese Comodini Cachia, a lawyer specialising in human rights, and Stephen Sant Fournier on behalf of the Federation of Estate Agents. In brief, ten-minute interventions the three key-note speakers set the scene for a broad discussion of the issues raised by the White Paper.
Ranier Fsadni, a member of the think-tank board, chaired the evening with a firm but fair touch. He encouraged the audience to address a number of key questions which the debate was trying to tease out: after so many years in gestation, did the White Paper offer proposals which were commensurate with the scale of the challenges?
Did the White Paper offer the necessary balance between the rights of property owners and those of tenants? Is ‘balance’ on an issue of such inevitable emotiveness at all possible in the circumstances? Can one possibly have ‘justice’ and ‘balance’ at the same time? Did the White Paper’s advocacy of gradual change entail any hidden economic costs, or was this the only way for a peaceful social transition to be achieved?
Following the calm and focussed opening interventions, Ranier Fsadni threw the debate open to the floor. A number of short but striking interventions were made.
There was general concensus in that the White Paper was a courageous first step, but many were of the view that much more needs to be done to ensuring that the reform dealt with the specific needs of the individuals rather than applying a broad interpretation to fit every need.
There was a need to establish a realistic rate based on a fair market value of property and a means test applied to cases where social support would be required.
This was a worth-while and intelligent debate on an issue which has long wrangled. At last, the government has presented proposals for public discussion. The points made in the TPPI think-tank debate were valid, in most cases constructive and certainly worthy of consideration in the context of the White Paper.