The evolution of social housing in Malta : 1943 - 2024

Abstract

This essay traces the complex and evolving trajectory of social housing in Malta, from WWII to contemporary times. Drawing on primary (archival material and housing policy documents) and secondary sources, the essay examines how political, economic, social, and cultural forces shaped the conception, design, and delivery of social housing across time. It argues that from post-war emergency housing efforts, Malta's social housing model was transformed into to a universalist state-driven model of provision in the 1970s–80s, followed by a shift to a more residualist, market-reliant model from the 1990s onwards, highlighting in process key turning points such as post-war slum clearance projects, the rise of housing estates, the role of homeownership schemes, and more recent efforts to blend public, private, and third-sector solutions within a mixed-model approach.