John Culatto
A NEW hotline will allow people in Gibraltar to report ‘empty or abandoned’ governmental rental flats to its housing department.
The move is part of what Minister for Housing Pat Orfila called ‘no-nonsense approach to getting the job done of helping people’ in a government statement.
Orfila said she was ‘determined’ to solve the problem so that her government could then reallocate the properties to people who need them.
All reports can be anonymous and ‘treated with the strictest confidence’, said the government.
The minister’s move is an attempt to reduce the lengthy waiting lists in Gibraltar, which have always been one of the major issues for locals.
Public housing is often the only option for many people who face private sector housing prices that are out of their reach.
“Government rental flats are owned by the people, and it is only right and fair that they are allocated to those who need them most,” recently elected Orfila said.
“The worst thing we can do is let them lie empty and unused.”
The former teacher that is dedicating all her energy to housing promised swift action when unoccupied properties are identified.
“If there is a Government rental property that you think is unoccupied, please let us know, anonymously if you like,” the government said.
“The Ministry will investigate and make sure that these properties are allocated to the benefit of the whole community.”
All calls can be made 24 hours a day to the Housing Department on 200 40040 or by email.
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