Action for Housing welcomes Knights Court homes but warns of rental shortfall

Action for Housing has welcomed the addition of 20 government rental homes at Knights Court but said the development would address only a small part of Gibraltar’s housing waiting list.

The project includes three 3RKB homes and 17 2RKB homes, which are due to be completed in September.

The group said 2RKB properties were in particularly short supply and that the new homes would make a difference to the families allocated them.

“Any addition to the rental stock is a step in the right direction, and 2RKBs in particular are in short supply, so this will make a real difference to the families who receive them,” said a statement from Action for Housing.

“However, twenty homes against a waiting list of almost a thousand only represents roughly 2% of the back log. The housing crisis in Gibraltar is not a supply blip, it is endemic and long-standing, and it will not be solved by ad-hoc additions of this size.”

Action for Housing said it would ask Minister for Housing, Pat Orfila, whether the Government planned to provide further rental properties rather than additional “affordable” housing schemes, which it said remained “out of reach for many of the very families on the waiting list.”

It also called for details of how much government rental housing would be included in the proposed Westside reclamation project.

“If Westside is to be built out largely as private or "affordable" purchase housing, it will do little to dent a waiting list built on the need for rental homes,” it said.

“Government needs to tell the public now what proportion of that land will go to rental stock.”