A social housing apartment block in Msida was inaugurated by Minister Roderick Galdes last week, three years after its initial deadline and €3 million over its estimated budget.

The block, named after Labour Minister Patrick Holland, comprises 102 apartments and 22 garages. It was announced in October 2020 as part of a project in 2017.

It was slated for completion by 2021 with a budget of €7 million.

On Saturday, a press release announcing the project’s completion called it Malta’s “most ambitious social housing project”. The block formed part of a €50 million project launched more than six years ago across 16 localities.

A 70-apartment social housing block in Cospicua, predating the Msida apartments is yet to be inaugurated despite claims that it would be complete by 2020.

In the same year, plans for the Msida apartments were announced for completion in 2021 at a cost of €7 million.

That year, a government press release then claimed the two complexes would be able to house 170 families by mid-2022.

The two complexes formed part of a €50 million housing project launched in response to a growing number of social housing applicants. By 2020, the waiting list had reached almost 3,000.

In response to parliamentary questions in February, Minister Galdes said that the number of persons on the social housing waiting list had fallen to around 1,500. The figure excluded persons who had been allocated property but not yet moved in.

Meanwhile, spending on social housing projects had ballooned to some €130 million.

Last year, The Shift reported that just ahead of the March 2022 general elections, hundreds of social housing applicants had been allocated housing through phone calls rather than official letters.

On some occasions, Minister Galdes himself informed applicants, and the Housing Authority claimed it was “usual procedure.”

The growing government spending on social housing coincides with an increasingly unaffordable housing market, as confirmed by National Statistics Office data last year.