€9million overrun as Siġġiewi social housing project remains stuck

A flagship social housing project in Siġġiewi has suffered a €9 million cost increase despite failing to reach its first floor after years in development, The Shift can reveal.

The 189-apartment development at Wied Ħesri, announced years ago by disgraced former Minister Roderick Galdes, was originally estimated to cost approximately €19.1 million. That estimate has now risen to €28.1 million – an increase of around 47% – with insiders describing the project as “a complete example of mismanagement”.

Despite years of planning and construction activity, the development has not progressed beyond its foundations.

The project was previously expected to form a major part of the government’s new social housing programme. Yet sources familiar with the development told The Shift there is no reliable indication of when the apartments will be ready for families.

The National Development and Social Fund’s latest annual report provisionally places completion in 2029. However, it also states that the final timetable cannot be determined with sufficient certainty and warns of further delays.

The NDSF, which administers proceeds from Malta’s former cash-for-passports programme, is financing the Housing Authority’s wider social housing programme through an arrangement of up to €66 million.

Its independent technical monitor reported “little to no progress” at Wied Ħesri during recent site inspections. The monitor also warned that further cost increases remain possible.

According to the Fund, the escalation resulted from design changes, omissions in the original bills of quantities, revised regulatory requirements and adverse site conditions.

The revised €28.1 million figure is still subject to contractor pricing and continuing remeasurement exercises, meaning the final bill could rise further.

Responsibility for the project’s implementation, procurement and management rests exclusively with the Housing Authority, now under the political wing of Minister Owen Bonnici.

The NDSF said it had not committed funding beyond the limits and protections in its existing agreement.

The Fund is now discussing the project with the Housing Authority and the government while assessing its contractual, legal and financial position.

It said it would take any necessary steps to safeguard or enforce its rights. It is also considering whether the project’s problems have implications for the value of its loan to the Housing Authority.

The Wied Ħesri development has been in the pipeline since at least 2019, when plans were submitted for what was initially a 195-unit complex. The proposal was subsequently revised to 189 apartments and 167 garages or parking spaces.

Residents had opposed the development over its scale, traffic impact, loss of open land and the concentration of social housing in the area.

The Housing Authority’s 2024 annual report said excavation had been completed and construction had started. Its 2025 report claimed that works had “proceeded” and that the foundations of most of the complex had been laid.

Neither report disclosed the €9 million increase or the uncertainty surrounding completion.