Wednesday, 13 May 2026, 21:43
Last update: about 4 hours ago
Nationalist Party leader Alex Borg announced two new proposals to help first-time buyers purchase their first home on Wednesday evening: that a PN government would provide a rebate covering half of the total interest payments paid in the first decade of a home loan and, secondly, that first-time buyers would be able to receive interest-free assistance by the government to cover the deposit on properties costing up to €450,000.
During a mass rally on Wednesday evening in Qormi, Borg unveiled two new proposals that a PN government will introduce, should it win the coming general election, to help more young people become homeowners.
The PN leader stated that as of today, the government gives property buyers who are purchasing a property, costing up to €225,000, an interest-free grant worth 10% of the property value (covering the deposit) that is repaid over the 40-year lifetime of the home loan.
Borg said that if elected, a PN government will widen this scheme so that it covers properties double in price, i.e., worth up to €450,000. Through this, first-time buyers could be given assistance of up to €45,000 to cover the deposit, he said.
While sharing this pledge, the Opposition leader stated that “today’s realities are different; the increasing cost of living and inflation have persisted, and property prices have continued to rise,” and hence, the time has come to update this existing scheme so that it better reflects modern property prices and the contemporary housing market.
The second proposal announced by Borg is to introduce a new scheme altogether, whereby first-time buyers will receive monthly payments to cover half of the total interest payments on the first 10 years of a home loan.
He said that through this scheme, first-time buyers can benefit from up to €46,800 in direct assistance over the first decade of home loan payments.
Before announcing these measures, Borg referenced a recent study that found that the average price of an apartment in the Maltese islands now costs some €400,000.
He remarked that it is very rare for youths who have just finished school to have enough money sitting ready to cover the 10% deposit to purchase a property nowadays, noting that he didn’t have this amount and many others cannot afford this either. Hence, he said that “this is where the government must step in – to provide peace of mind.”
Borg said that a PN administration would like to help youths and parents alike by creating an economy that supports them. During his speech, he said that a PN government will introduce new economic niches to the Maltese islands that will generate millions, and that these millions of euros will be reinvested back to the people “so that you can better cope with the increasing cost of living.”
He commented that while PN will reduce electricity bills by 30% and raise student stipends by 25% if elected, the incumbent Labour administration has failed to guarantee quality of life as the country performed well economically.
Borg also noted that past summers filled with power cuts forced many families across Malta and Gozo to buy generators for their home and that the nation’s gas supply, which the PN said expires this summer, is another question mark that still needs answering.
“It’s good that our economy is growing, but that is not enough. Has quality of life for people become better? Have youths been given the opportunity to become homeowners as their parents did? Workers today, do they live to work or work to live?” Borg questioned.
Alex Borg said that this early election was not announced because Malta is going through a crisis, but that it was announced “in the interest of Robert Abela and the Labour Party.”
“He needed this election – a year early – because the PL has a lot to lose,” Borg said.
He said that as a result, “this electoral campaign has become a marketplace, a supermarket” with a barrage of new proposals being announced “every day, left, right, and centre.”
Borg added that if the Labour Party truly wanted to fulfil all its pledges, it had another year left in its electoral mandate to do so, featuring one final budget to spearhead one final push, on top of the last 13 years it’s already had in government.
He said that people should enter politics to serve, “not to be served by the system as they are doing – as the people are seeing.”
Borg concluded his speech by telling viewers that under his leadership, the Nationalist Party shall open its doors to all. The PN will extend this to doors of Castille, should the electorate entrust it to govern the nation over the next legislature, he added.
During this mass rally, Conrad Borg Manché gave his first address as a member of the Nationalist Party, in which he shared why he has decided to complete his switch in allegiance from the Labour Party just a couple years ago to the PN in this general election now. He called for all disgruntled Labourites to express themselves on election day and going out to vote, rather than abstaining. His speech was preceded by PN councillor and minority leader within the Qormi Local Council, Ralph Puli.
