A statement from Action For Housing follows below:

The development of the Road to the Lines property was announced in September 2019 by the deputy Chief minister. However, to date, this long-awaited and much-needed housing project has yet to be delivered.

During much of last year, a team of workers was engaged in clearing and removing tonnes of rubbish and discarded items from inside the flats and common areas. This work was a necessary and welcome first step. However, since then, there has been no visible progress to suggest that the project is moving forward in any meaningful way.

While the southern end of the property, comprising of six flats, has been refurbished to a high standard, which we understand are privately owned or in the process of being purchased (no details publicly available on the successful bidders of the tender), the remainder of the building remains vacant, neglected, and in a state of disrepair. 

Further correspondence has revealed that the Office of the deputy Chief minister has not been involved in this project since the end of 2023 and has confirmed that responsibility for the site reverted to the Housing Department. It was later made public that the Housing Department transferred full control of the site to the Minister for Economic Development, Sir Joe Bossano. 

A proposal for the Road to the Lines project was submitted to the Development and Planning Commission in May 2025 and was approved. The designs were also made public on the DPC website at the time of the meeting.

The most recent information available to us suggests that the delay in commencing works is due to Invision Construction awaiting the signing of the contract. We cannot confirm the accuracy of this information, nor whether additional factors are contributing to the delay. What is indisputable, however, is that a project intended to kick-start the regeneration of this emblematic part of the Upper Town has still not begun—more than six years after its public announcement.

Given the acute demand for housing and the inordinate delay in progressing this development, we are now publicly asking for clear answers. Why has this project stalled, and when will work finally commence?