Action for Housing have made public a letter sent to the Minister for Housing:

Dear Minister,

In April 2021 we both appeared on a GBC radio programme, presented by Ros Astengo, in which you stated that you had enough housing stock to meet the needs of all those applicants on the Government Housing waiting list(s). At the time, we put this assertion very much in doubt, given the long delays in accommodating those on the waiting list.

Now, figures have been released by the Government in response to questions put to you in Parliament. You said that there are 11 flats available for allocation, 18 being refurbished, and another 40 properties which are beyond repair and which will be put out to tender. You also said that there are 92 properties which form part of the urban renewal project. You did not explain what your intentions are with respect to these 92 properties. We suspect and fear that these, or at least some of these, would come under that opaque, never completed and much neglected urban generation project at Road To The Lines. More clarification on what you intend to do with these 92 properties would be appreciated.

Be that as it may, and given the long waiting list(s), the figures provided of available housing are not nearly enough to house those in need, contrary to what you said during the radio programme.

To make matters worse, the final construction of the so-called affordable housing, the construction of which has already suffered considerable delays, will take another two or three years to be completed, thus adding more pain to those waiting for a home.

All in all, the housing situation in Gibraltar, apart from the construction of pensioners’ flats, looks very bleak indeed and will get worse given your refusal to construct housing for rental.

Given the public importance of this matter, we are releasing this letter to the media.

Yours faithfully,

Henry Pinna

Action for Housing