Government Defends Housing Record After GSD Criticism
The Government has published figures comparing affordable housing delivered under GSD and GSLP/Liberal administrations.
A statement from the Government follows below:
HM Government of Gibraltar has today published the full record of affordable housing delivery in Gibraltar in response to the statement issued by the Opposition in respect of the Westside reclamation.
The GSD has chosen to question this Government's record on delivery. The Government is therefore setting out the figures.
Across four terms in office between 1996 and 2011, GSD administrations completed 801 affordable homes. These were Waterport Terraces, Cumberland Terraces, Bayview Terraces and Nelson's View.
Across four terms in office since 2011, GSLP/Liberal administrations have completed 1,742 affordable homes, rising to 2,141 on completion of Bob Peliza Mews. These are Beach View Terraces, Mons Calpe Mews, Hassan Centenary Terraces Phases 1 and 2 and Chatham Views.
The comparison is four terms against four terms. It is 801 against 1,742. It does not include a single home at Westside.
That is in addition to the 2,442 affordable homes delivered by the GSLP Government led by Sir Joe Bossano. These were Brympton Estate, Vineyards, Montagu Gardens, Harbour Views, Sir William Jackson Grove and Montagu Crescent. GSLP administrations have therefore already delivered 4,184 affordable homes in Gibraltar.
The Opposition statement runs to eight paragraphs on a project that will deliver 2,300 affordable homes. It does not say whether the Opposition supports those homes. It does not address what was actually announced, which is that every home built on this land will be an affordable home, allocated to Gibraltarians under Government affordable housing schemes, with no open market or private residential element whatsoever.
The Government's announcement earlier this week was clear about timescales. The creation of the land is expected to take approximately eighteen months from commencement. The development will then be delivered in phases.
The reclamation was approved by the Development and Planning Commission on 28 May 2026. That approval followed the statutory planning process, which was held in public. Matters of traffic, infrastructure, schooling and design are considered through that process and will continue to be considered in public as the masterplan for the site comes forward. The Government said in its announcement that further announcements will be made in respect of the plans, the allocation of homes and timelines. That remains the position.
Minister Arias-Vasquez said: "This Government has built 1,742 affordable homes over four terms, with a further 400 to come on completion of Bob Peliza Mews. Families are living in those homes today, at Beach View Terraces, at Mons Calpe Mews, at Hassan Centenary Terraces and at Chatham Views. Westside will deliver 2000 more affordable homes and 300 pensioner homes, every one of them an affordable home for Gibraltarians, with no open market element whatsoever. Whilst others criticise, we build. What we are working on now is to create the land, bring the masterplan forward through the Development and Planning Commission and keep the community informed at every stage. That is what we will get on with."
The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo KC MP, said: "Every generation of Gibraltarians who has grown up in an affordable home on reclaimed land has done so because a previous generation was willing to build. The GSD was in office for fifteen years and built 801 homes. We have built 1,742 already, with 400 more to come very soon and we are now creating the land for 2,300 more. Every single one of them affordable and not one square metre of it for the open market. The GSD calls that unbelievable. What is unbelievable is a party that spent four terms failing to build the homes Gibraltar needed and now lectures those who are building them. They are entitled to their scepticism. Our families are entitled to their homes. This Government has chosen families."
