OUR VISION The Ministry for Social Accommodation has made clear that it places housing at the cen-tre of our society – a vision which is rethinking and re-evaluating contemporary housing from a holistic perspective. Investing in adequate and good standard housing is one way of ensuring security, belonging, prosperity and wellbeing in Malta.

Our vision for the future requires a systems-based approach to housing with a renewed focus, one which considers the significance of an integrative approach to our homes while also acknowledging that housing is a human right. An underlying question that this housing system proposes is: ‘How should we envision, plan and manage housing’? This stems from the acknowledgement that housing a large and diverse population whose needs and realities are ever-changing is not an easy task for policymakers and ur-ban planners alike, since households tend to change over time and adapt in creative and sometimes unpredictable ways, especially when striving to meet the demands of market forces. Changing households require a housing system that takes a broad, contextual and longitudinal approach to understanding the household as being at the core of social, economic, health and urban transformations. To achieve this, the Ministry has embarked on a collective endeavour with scholars, citizens, public, private, and government entities.

The process of rethinking and doing housing differently has led us to identify 4 main inter-linked pillars on which this system will be based upon: people, networks, sustainability and digitalisa-tion.

People - and homes have endured interdependency across time and space. Homes are at the centre of everything, because people are. Therefore, our future homes must sup-port and serve society. The focus should be in understanding the diverse needs of society and to deliver rights-based, social, environmental and economic outcomes needed for living well.

Connectedness – our homes are inextricably linked to our built environment which is in itself a complex network made up of social, legal, environmental and economic facets. Homes have the potential to tangibly bring together structure, form, community, cul-tural values, ideals, heritage, urban planning and housing policies. Therefore, our homes can be seen as a system of networks that connects different layers of society from gov-ernance, policy, legislation, infrastructure to people. This should be reflected through a system-based strategy which sees housing as an organic part of the entire infrastructural network. 

Sustainability – it will become increasingly difficult to sustain our homes unless the sys-tem itself becomes sustainable, green, and realistic. This requires us to consider building neighbourhoods and houses for now and our future selves. Our homes need to be able to stand the test of time while being able to attend the needs and abilities of all. This inter-vention will deliberately move towards the circular economy in housing and infrastruc-ture.

Digitalisation  – incorporating digital assets as an effective management tool for the housing system of the future. Also, being digitally connected at home has become a con-temporary need as we see more people working from home for myriad reasons – wheth-er it’s due to childcare, illness or a pandemic. Such a reality must be considered in our vision too.

Finally, I am adamant that the development of our first national housing system could be perceived as serendipitous whereby the planning and design of the local housing market could benefit from a culturally-sensitive approach, while simultaneously taking the ‘changing household’ and a rights-based approach as inherent characteristics in policymaking and leg-islation.

Thus, I hope to facilitate a paradigm shift which recognises the strength of developing a sys-tems-based approach to our future homes. One which moves away from silos in policy, devel-opment and decision-making.

Roderick Galdes Minister for Social Accommodation

Workshop 1Health, Ageing and Ability1a) Ageing and Alternative Housing Pathways

The acknowledgement of working with older people as equal partners has brought about a shift in policy on a global-wide level, making policy more inclusive, diverse and realistic. Such significant shifts illustrate that experience in later life is heterogeneous and that social and health care should be considerate of such diversity. Access to formal care and housing is another key resource in older age, engaging with issues of affective equality and understandings of equality of care. For instance, the emergence of Age-Friendly Cit-ies (WHO) has initiated public policies which consider the needs of an ageing population in relation to providing adequate housing that enables older people to age in place with-out losing autonomy or independence. However, to date, we do not have a standard on existing or new buildings which looks at the desired rise in living standards. Neither do we have alternatives to care homes for older people to feel more autonomous and seen.

In reality, the demographic challenge of an ageing society will fall on the existing stock of homes, dwellings that the social housing sector calls ‘general needs.’ An ageing society is also placing unprecedented pressure on our health care system, including social services to manage demand for unplanned hospital admissions, on primary and/or residential care. Therefore, an emphasis on more ‘integrated at home care and support’ is needed and housing should feature as part of this Action Plan/Strategy. Integrated health, care and support, and housing solutions could make best use of the budgets across local sec-tors and their partners to achieve improved outcomes for less. This may be a valuable means for stakeholders engaged in improving the current housing stock or in construct-ing new buildings such as sheltered accommodation for older people.

In this workshop, we ask you to consider the following themes when you are discussing the above themes:

• Ageing, health and care need to be incorporated in a national strategy on hous-ing and home as a cross government priority;

• Building homes for our future selves; • Planning housing and places so that they reflect the changes that occur over the

lifetime is key to social cohesion, solidarity and inclusivity; • It is crucial that an integrated plan with an overall framework related to housing

adaptations and services is implemented as this will put more pressure on hous-ing demands and finances;

• Ageing in place;• The development of a framework for the assessment of age-appropriateness of

housing.

General questions for discussion:

1. Older people tend to be excluded by design as they grow older. How can policy and design mitigate this? 2. Are care homes the future? 3. What are the main institutional barriers that policymakers and practitioners face? 4. How can issues of gender and class be attended to in terms of practice and policymaking?

5. How can a better coordinated care pathway be achieved where ageing inde

pendently at home can be encouraged through adaptations in order to meet the changing needs of the occupants - whether that is level access showers, accessible toilets or low threshold doorways - and housing related care and support services that aligned to facilitate better care closer to home?

Chair/Discussant: - Prof Marvin Formosa, Department of Gerontology and Dementia Studies, University of Malta.

Key words: ageing in place, inclusive homes, health, care, assessment of age-appropriate housing.

1b) Accessibility, the Built Environment and Housing

The concept of sustainable communities is based on inclusive neighbourhoods and a good quality of life to all generations. Thus, we must envision neighbourhoods and hous-es for our future selves. Houses need to be able to stand the test of time while being able to attend the needs and abilities of all. More often than not, buildings including our own homes are conceptualised from the dominant understanding of the able body. There-fore, how can ableism be constructively detangled in order to address social prejudice and discrimination against people with disabilities; and instead think of ways in which both our built environment and our homes can become more inclusive. This also includes abandoned and dilapidated buildings which are many in Malta and are asking for a new life. They can be improved despite the challenges they offer us but their utilisation de-creases the need to build new ones. These are some of the objectives that this strategy will take into consideration in order to safeguard the wellbeing of our neighbourhoods and society at large.

In this workshop, we ask you to think about ‘inclusivity in the round’ and to consider how housing policy, neighbourhoods and our home space can become:

• accessible;• Aesthetically pleasing and safe (in terms of both traffic and crime), and easy and

pleasant to access; • A community that offers plenty of services, facilities and open space; • Lifetime neighbourhoods which foster economic and social benefits based on

a strong social and civic fabric, including volunteering, informal networks, and a culture of consultation and user empowerment amongst decision-makers; and

• A strong local identity and sense of place.

General questions for discussion: 1. How can design and planning respond and challenge ableism in the built environment? 2. Practically, how can the above be achieved? 3. How can this vision promote independence and autonomy? 4. What type of method could work best in order to achieve a new typology in the face of changing cultural and technological realities in relation to infrastructure, housing and neighbourhoods?

Chair/Discussant: • Dr Vickie Gauci, Department of Disability Studies, University of Malta.

Key words: inclusive housing, sustainable communities, safety, autonomy, belong-ing, ableism.

Workshop 2 Law and Economy2a) Security of Tenure

The United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on adequate housing has identified legal security of tenure as one of the seven key features of adequate housing on several occasions (see UN Reports A/HRC/25/54, A/HRC/4/18 and A/72/128). This is a large component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination to housing. Fur-ther, UN guidelines on the legal security of tenure suggest a host of measures, such as the strengthening of diverse tenure forms – for example, formal/informal, individual/collec-tive, customary, rental/ownership. The protection of security of tenure in a country may be measured through structural indicators, which analyse the legal protections and effective remedies available in a specific jurisdiction. Such indicators should include assessments of the impact of legal protections on the ground and the extent to which access to justice and effective remedies are actually available for marginalized groups.

In the local context, challenges to legal security of tenure are multi-faceted. The great-est obstacle faced by the tenant population living in private rented accommodation in recent years is the complex interplay with the fundamental human right to property, as enshrined by the European Convention of Human Rights and interpreted by the Maltese Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Further-more, the security of tenure enjoyed by tenants of social accommodation has evolved over the years to be virtually on par with that of private home owners, with the State often unable to retrieve its immovable assets from the beneficiaries of its social solidarity pro-grammes who no longer satisfy the eligibility criteria for such benefits. The different le-gal regimes of private residential leases together with the autochthonous social housing management structures developed by the Maltese State since its independence in 1964 create a multi-layered landscape of legal security of tenure which are being addressed in the development of our national housing strategy.  In this workshop, we ask you to consider the following themes when you are discussing the above:

• The legal security of tenure of tenants residing in pre-1995 leases in Malta and Gozo as opposed to the fundamental human right to property enjoyed by the owners of pre-1995 tenements;

• The legal security of tenure of tenants residing in lease agreements entered into post-1995 and the protections granted thereto by the Private Residential Leases Act of 2019;

• The legal security of tenure enjoyed by tenants of social accommodation in the context of scarcity of public land available to the Government of Malta for the purposes of social housing;

• The eviction process in Malta and its legal and judicial ramifications; and• The interplay between legal security of tenure and stability in housing.

General questions for discussion: 1. What do you consider as the minimum period of time of a tenure to guarantee stability? 2. Do you believe the State should intervene? If yes, in which way? 3. Do you consider the current eviction process in Malta to be: (i) just, (ii) equitable and (iii) effective? 4. Is there any legitimate limitation to the right to property? If so, to what extent? 5. What kind of methodology could the State embark on so as to offer housing stability and predictability?  6. Should such assistance be limited/capped? 7. What kind of service provision could be designed in order to help those seeking assistance? 8. What about the rights of others - (i) people still on the waiting list, (ii) emergency cases, (iii) taxpaying homeowners?

Chair/Discussant:• Dr. Av. Kurt Xerri, Faculty of Law, University of Malta & Ministry for Social Accom-

modation.

2b) Affordability

Affordability has been identified as a key component in the right to an adequate stan-dard of living (see A/HRC/37/53). The United Nation’s Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing also states that national housing strategies must prevent housing systems themselves from sustaining and increasing socio-economic inequality and ex-clusion. Such strategies must recognise and address the close association between laws and government policies that position housing as a commodity. Additionally, the unaf-fordability of housing for those in the lowest income bracket may lead to homelessness and displacement and an increased concentration of wealth.

Affordability requires measures such as rent regulation, housing subsidies, access to credit, and measures to prevent speculation, amongst others. Furthermore, it is also crit-ical that definitions used for the purposes of setting goals and assessing progress be in-formed by lived experience. In this case, “affordability” must be defined in a manner that accounts for income levels of those living in poverty, of persons with disabilities who may have additional living expenses or of older persons with medical expenses. In the local context, the recent period of economic growth and development has often supported the financialization of property and housing, which has led to unprecedented specula-tion and unaffordability across all sectors. Thus, through our national housing strategy there is the possibility to identify ways and means to increase the affordability of housing across different segments of society without impeding prosperity and the augmentation of its gross domestic product. 

In this workshop, we ask you to consider the following themes when you are discussing the above:

• The prevalent property prices in Malta in the private rented sector and the private property sales sector as opposed to the average household income of residents in Malta and Gozo;

• The measures adopted by the Maltese State to address unaffordability and its socio-economic implications;

• The short-term consequences of State intervention in the market through price control mechanisms, or the lack thereof;

• The medium-to-long term consequences of State interventions in the market through price control mechanisms, or the lack thereof;

• The role of Private Public Partnerships or Housing Cooperatives in the property market; and

• The nature of the assistance provided to different social groups in this respect.

 General questions for discussion: 1. What percentage of income should go towards the Total Housing Costs (rent/loan repayment and utilities)? Is the 30% threshold still valid or should we rethink this benchmark? 2. Whose duty is it to regulate property sale and the rental market? 3. If the State takes an active role which method should it employ to ensure efficacy? 4. Do you envisage stronger role of PPPs? If so, what should be the State’s role? 5. How should the State distribute public assistance in housing? 6. What legal method would work best in the context of security of tenure and affordability in the 21st century?

Chair/Discussant:• Dr. Mary Grace Vella, Affordable Housing, Housing Authority.

 Key words: affordability, methodology, socio-economic inequality, exclusion.

2c) Economic Factors

According to the United Nation’s Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, national housing strategies should clarify the obligations of private actors and regulate financial, housing and real estate markets accordingly (see Principal 9, A/HRC/37/53). The Report outlines how national housing strategies must recognize that the private sector plays a predominant role in the production and provision of housing and related services. Housing strategies cannot ignore the relevant private actors which range from small-scale landlords to real estate developers and construction companies, as well as short-term vacation rental providers, banks and other financial institutions.

Moreover, housing strategies should meet all of the standards outlined in the UNHR’ Of-fice of the High Commissioner’s Guiding Principles on Businesses and Human Rights (see HR/PUB/11/04) and must also include access to effective remedies and grievance pro-cedures as outlined therein, which should provide a means for affected communities to raise concerns about the effects of activities linked to gentrification, land acquisition and speculation. The Report and Guiding Principles mentioned above declare that govern-ments cannot simply ensure that private actors do not harm or come into conflict with the right to housing, but should also ensure that the actions of private actors and inves-tors in the economy are consistent with the State’s obligation to fulfil the right to housing.

In the local context, the recent period of economic growth and development has often supported the financialization of property and housing, which has led to unprecedented disparity between the average household income level and property prices, excessive re-liance on the construction sector, lenient credit terms to investors and widespread gentri-fication in various localities around Malta and Gozo. Therefore, through the development of a local national housing strategy it becomes possible to constructively identify ways and means to efficiently and effectively regulate private actors and direct the activities of financial markets to reflect the social and cultural function of land and housing. This might involve initiatives that would curb speculation, halt the production of unnecessary luxury housing and prevent the privatisation of public land, without impeding the pros-perity and the augmentation of its gross domestic product. In this workshop, we ask you to consider the following themes when you are discussing the above:

• The prevalent property prices in Malta in the private rented sector and the private property sales sector as opposed to the current labour conditions of residents in Malta and Gozo;

• The socio-economic implications of mass importation of foreign labour and the impact on the local housing market and the community;

• The interplay between credit supply and property price fluctuations, and the role of banks and financial institutions in the local housing system;

• The role of the construction industry in the local housing system and its adapt-ability to the challenges which shall be faced by Malta and Gozo in the medi-um-to-long term; and

• The role of tourism in the local housing system and the regulation of short-term vacation rentals (for example Airbnb) and boutique hotels to protect community cohesion.

General questions for discussion: 1. Do you believe that the current labour conditions adequately reflect housing costs? In case of a mismatch, do you think the state should intervene on salaries or housing costs? 2. Should the importation of foreign labour be preceded by an assessment of the relevant impact on the housing market? 3. In the light of the impact that credit supply has on property price fluctuations, do you think banks should keep offering such lenient financial terms to its customers? 4. Can the Maltese economy keep relying so decisively on the construction sector indefinitely? How can the construction industry adapt to possible future scenarios?; and 5. Do you agree that: i) the number of units offered for private accommodation to tourists (e.g. Airbnb) should be capped? and ii) geographically restricted to protect community cohesion?

Chair/Discussant:• Av. Stefan Cutajar, Ministry for Social Accommodation.

 Key words: regulation, economic factors, labour conditions, community cohesion.

2d) Non-discrimination in Housing Strategies

Discrimination in housing may not be apparent at first glance. However, access to ade-quate housing is fraught with inequalities and asymmetric relations of power based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. In fact, Principal 2 of The United Nation’s Report of the Special Rapporteur clearly states that national housing strategies should prioritise those most in need and ensure equality (see A/HRC/37/53).

The Report further outlines how the right to equality and non-discrimination must be protected in all aspects of national housing strategies. Strategies must assess which com-munities and populations are in living in precarious conditions and address their circum-stances in a manner which respects human rights. In this context, the right to equality must be understood substantively and requires States to enact positive measures to undo the effects of discrimination and exclusion (see E/C.12/2005/4 and E/C.12/GC/20). Further-more, housing strategies should identify groups that suffer housing disadvantages and should address the particular barriers they face, including women’s equal right to hous-ing must be ensured in all aspects of the strategies. Additionally, strategies should be responsive to emerging issues of marginalization and discrimination, xenophobia, stig-matization and hatred. In Malta, the recent rapid economic growth and urban development leans towards see-ing housing as a commodity instead of a universal right. Simultaneously, Malta and Gozo underwent an epoch of major social and cultural upheaval which has transformed our cultural context in a cosmopolitan society, with multiple publics sharing common spaces and resources. The emergence of this progressive cosmopolitan society has resulted in greater inequality and conflict, with novel issues such as ‘ghettoization’ and the inade-quacy of housing policies to fulfil the needs of contemporary family arrangements. Access to justice for all citizens in the housing market has also been on the forefront of public discourse. Thus, the National Housing Strategy must identify ways and means to address both long-standing and novel challenges to the right to equality and non-discrimination in housing and propose substantive measures which will enhance social cohesion and ensure equality of opportunity to all.  In this workshop, we ask you to consider the following themes when you are discussing the above:

• The nature of the ‘right to housing’ vis-à-vis the Maltese legal system and consti-tution;

• The gendered dimension to housing challenges in Malta; • ‘Ghettoization’ and other housing phenomena associated with migration in the

21st century; • The barriers to full participation in the private housing market and public hous-

ing benefits experienced by fringe or minority groups; and• Access to justice for all participants in the local housing system.

General questions for discussion: 1. Is the ‘right to housing’ an absolute right? Should it be legally enforced or constitutionally enshrined? 2. Is there a gendered dimension to housing difficulties? If so, how can it be addressed? 3. Is the ‘ghettoization’ phenomenon a major problem in Malta? If so, have the State’s actions or inactions been a contributing factor? 4. What are the barriers experienced by groups described as fringe or minority groups when accessing the Maltese property market or public housing benefits?

5. Is the contemporary family arrangement being suitably represented in housing policy?; and 6. Is access to justice available to all participants in the housing sector irrespective of socio-economic background?

Chair/Discussant:• Dr. Rachael Marie Scicluna, Ministry for Social Accommodation & Department of

Anthropological Sciences, University of Malta.

Key words: non-discrimination, equality, ghettoization, justice, gender.

Workshop 3People, Infrastructure and Design3a) People, built environment and connectedness

Our homes are defined by their cultural, political and environmental context. They form a large percentage of the built environment and have the potential to tangibly and sym-bolically bring together structure, form, community, culture, ideals, heritage, urban plan-ning and housing policies. Additionally, the household tends to respond creatively to the contemporary demands of the market. Therefore, one can think of our homes as a sys-tem of networks that connects different layers of society – governance, policy, legisla-tion, economy, infrastructure and people. In short, public areas, communities, and hous-ing should not be treated as separate programmatic modules but as organic parts of the entire infrastructural network. Homes must be connected to the daily movements and organisation of daily lives. This social and cultural ‘backdrop’ of our homes is crucial if we are to design cultural-ly-sensitive policies and strategies that fit our cultural landscape. This perspective opens up the meaning of the built environment as a socially meaningful place where our homes can serve a central role in ensuring the sustainable development of cities and commu-nities. In light of the above, the built environment may be seen as an enabler, of and for, human contact that ultimately leads to human flourishing. One way of achieving this is to explore how the urban block can be reinstated back into a social and ecological system. In this workshop, thus, we ask you think socially from the start and to consider: 

• Community issues as being part (not separate) from the quality of design for in-dividual homes;

• Enliven cities through housing and urban polices that promote a liveable city/town/village for everyone;

• To think of inclusive design as both a right and design solution to the challenge of demographic change being experienced by all developed countries;

• To think of the traditional and vernacular typology in relation to health and well-being (consider pandemics, natural disasters, economic crisis, wars and so on);

• To think of sustainability and green infrastructure as key drivers for changing the way we look at housing as an essential and intrinsic part of the urban fabric.

 General questions for discussion: 1. How can sustainability and design intertwine in order to respond to the de mands of the 21st century? 2. Can the built environment respond to the often-complex needs of the community? How? 3. How should we envision, plan and manage the built environment? 4. How can this vision include design and digitalisation as enablers of connectedness? 5. What type of method could work best in order to achieve a new typology in the face of changing cultural and technological realities in relation to infrastructure, urbanism and landscape?

Chair/Discussant: • Dr Perit Jeanette Munoz Abela, Faculty for Built Environment, University of Malta.

Key words: people-focused approach, sustainability, built environment, community is-

sues, networks, digitalisation, methodology.

3b) Spaces of Wellbeing: Housing, Health and Wellbeing

City policymakers, planners and designers tend to place heavy emphasis on strength-ening physical infrastructure, with economic outcomes. Such thinking often sidelines important cultural factors which overlook the very fabric of society. One way of address-ing this oversight is to take ‘human flourishing’ as a fundamental aspect of housing and home. With human flourishing, we are referring to the basic philosophical stance of: what does it mean to live well? Living well is complex and politically-loaded. It embroils external conditions from climate change, political upheaval or pandemics to economic, religious, gender, racial and cultural factors.

Moreover, living well is not solely about house form and structure but it also incorporates the implementation of a professional care service provision. Sometimes what is lacking is the ‘translation of needs’ between policymakers, healthcare practitioners, and scholars. Lumping housing needs under one category – social housing – may not be the way for-ward in the 21st century. Instead, the diversification of housing through the interlinking of affordable, social and private housing could provide a soft landing for various groups across gender, age, ability, sexuality, class and so on.

Therefore, placing housing at the centre of people’s lives may be an opening to develop-ing and designing policies and innovative housing pathways that take into consideration the concept of living well.

Points to consider during the workshop: • To think of a system-based approach where the relationship between health and the built environment is seen as a key factor in facilitating a general sense of wellbeing; • Housing as scaffolding in a way that fulfils the needs and concerns of the 21st century household; • Socially-aware housing and infrastructure can influence the residents’ long-term capacity and motivation to cooperate with each other in caring for the community and may result in a positive sense of wellbeing; • Connections and its focus on interconnected infrastructure promote collective interests and action; • Other aspects that stress the value of happiness and wellbeing, neighbourliness and human kindness, greater cooperation and social solidarity, and improvements to life chances for all.

General questions for discussion: 1. How can health be included in housing policy in a tangible way? 2. What does public health mean – culture, heritage, care, good housing … ? 3. Can health be incorporated in infrastructure and design? 4. How can housing be re-envisioned in a way to improve quality of life? 5. What type of methodology would facilitate the development of an intersectional housing system which brings together care and housing? (think of gender, race, sexuality, disability, life course etc)? 6. What health factors can improve human flourishing at a housing and community level? 7. What about health and sustainability – for example, can living well be promoted and facilitated through the use of certain materials and textures?

Chair/Discussant:• Perit Alexia Mercieca, Faculty for Built Environment, University of Malta.

Key words: integrated system, living well, materiality, public/health, policy, housing pathways, methodology.

3c) Sustainability, Heritage and Existing Buildings

The relationship between community issues and the quality of design for individual hous-es has been a point of concern for many social scientists and built environment profes-sionals over the past five decades. Housing using poor design, bad thermal performance and unprofessional workmanship may lead to fast decay in the fabric of housing, at times even the vandalism of the fabric itself. Given the evolving nature of cities, with build-ings ageing and becoming obsolete, this workshop questions whether the transforma-tion and retrofitting of existing buildings to accommodate change as well as to support mixed uses is the way forward. This approach takes into consideration the sensible need to preserve resources, extend the lives of existing building stock and reduce mass devel-opment. This could be one way of practicing sustainability and one which reduces carbon emissions to net-zero. This could also be seen as a method to make society more resilient to the physical effects of climate change which also requires a systems-based approach as this national housing strategy is proposing.

Questions to discuss in the workshop:  1. How can a policy of transforming historic buildings accommodate social transformations at both the community and household level? 2. Can heritage sites be transformed into well-designed and aesthetically- pleasing housing developments? 3. What should housing policymakers and urban planners look out for in order to attend to this shift? 4. What practical conservation methods could be adopted in order to protect the fabric of heritage sites while supporting their usable function? 5. How can technology aid in the planning, design and sustainable retrofitting of historic buildings? 6. How can open spaces, community resources and the needs of people who live and work in the area come together in order to create a more liveable urban space for all?

Chair/ Discussant:• Dr Perit Wendy Jo Mifsud, Planning Authority.

Key words: sustainability, historic buildings, social transformation, connectedness, policy gaps, people, technology.

Workshop 4Alternative Domesticities4a) Alternative Families and Housing Policy

Housing is key to the wellbeing of society, the individual and the family. But, how can housing accommodate the diverse needs and concerns of our contemporary household? We must recognise that the Maltese household has changed. We can no longer think of the traditional family as being the dominant family formation. It is best to think of alterna-tive family households. There are many aspects to this change – for example – an ageing population, a rise in single parental homes, living-apart relationships, inter-generational homes, shared (professional) households amongst youths; and the rise of single people and that of the financially stretched middle class.

Such changes in family patterns call for a break with the traditional methods, not only in the housing sector, but also in employment, education and the care sector. The changing social trends have also affected youths. Nowadays, youths are more open to the idea of leaving the parental home earlier to further their studies abroad or pursue an indepen-dent life. Even due to financial constraints, we are thus seeing the first signs of shared households between friends. One may even consider this as a new family pattern.

Growing attention to alternative domestic experiences, therefore, considers the complex-ity that might not only be contained in wider society, where identity is made up of social categories including gender, race, class and other status markers, but in the sphere of everyday life, where identity, intimacy and intentionality are destabilized and de-famil-iarized. Such themes are at the core of this workshop and our national housing strategy.

The choice of the term alternative is purposeful. It is a term that embraces the multidi-mensionality of identity across the life course and that hardly ever falls within neat, linear categories. Moreover, the term alternative is not restricted to non-heterosexuals but its openness is inclusive of other identities and domestic experiences. The element of open-ness is crucial in enriching our understanding of what a home is, while at the same time challenging the normative concept of the domestic and leading us to think about it in the plural: domesticities.

Points to consider during the workshop:• Consider the ‘changing household’ as a unit of analysis for policy-making;• Think of the domestic beyond a set of normative domestic relations and

domestic practices, which are often understood through a set of relationships bound to marriage, family, religion and economy;

• Include multiple experiences of home which consider emotions, kinship, friend-ship, homelessness, care, and different flows of power within and beyond the household.

General questions for discussion: 1. How can policymaking become more inclusive of alternative family formations and their needs? 2. What do you think are the main barriers in achieving a housing policy that leaves no one behind? 3. Should the term ‘family’ be redefined in order to accommodate the contemporary Maltese household? 4. What housing pathways should we consider in order to address the needs of those families who are at the risk of poverty? 5. Can an alternative home design which moves away from the 20th century design typology that privileges the heterosexual couple and their children be rethought along the lines of alternative domesticities?

Chair/ Discussant:• Prof Angela Abela, Department of Family Studies, University of Malta.

Key words: alternative family formations, changing households, needs, home space and design.

4b) More than Housing, Alternative Housing Solutions

Home has a very important place in most people’s lives – grounded as much in the imag-inary and the anticipated as in the reality of people’s everyday lives. Housing for whom? is a pertinent question that needs to be addressed in today’s changing society. Across most EU Member States and the United Kingdom, there are no exact figures on homelessness and data is variable. The fact that there is no unified data tends to produce different statis-tics even within one society. Further, homelessness has various definitions where the UK and North West Europe tend to define homelessness when a household is over-crowded and with below-standard conditions. While in Malta, our definition is still rather narrow and homeless people are largely conceptualised as those without a roof and residing in emergency shelters.

Homelessness is complex. In European, American and British societies, the typical image of the homeless person is the female-led household which is often due to mental health related issues, domestic violence, and financial status. The reasons to why individuals and families end up without a home are various and often cut across many social and eco-nomic factors from unemployment, poverty, mental health, loss of a significant other, disability, gender and so on. Finding solutions is not an uncomplicated matter as it is directly related to political and ideological market views. Therefore, in this workshop, we would like you to consider how local housing policy can address the relationship between vulnerabilities, housing pathways, wellbeing and socio-economic status.

Points to consider during the workshop:• A housing system which incorporates preventative measures in order to address

social exclusion;• Affordable and specialised housing pathways;• The relationship between housing, care and employment;• Low cost homeownership.

General questions for discussion: 1. How can family and housing policy be organised better in order to understand the contemporary need of the homeless? 2. How can homelessness be redefined? 3. Are specialised and affordable housing the way forward? 4. Can a ‘survival strategy’ based on choice, agency and rights of homeless people adequately address the development of a house support system (or affordable housing)? 5. How can we find solutions through house design?

Chair/ Discussant:• Kerry Hermitage, YMCA.

Key words: homelessness, new housing pathways, family and housing policy, survival strategy.