Price hikes caused number of chilly homes to double

The 2008 increase in electricity rates and subsequent gas price hikes coincide with a sharp increase in the proportion of people who report to be unable to keep their homes sufficiently warm, a report confirms. John Cordina writes

The report, Environmental Health Inequalities in Malta, was drawn up by the Health Ministry’s Department for Health Regulation in collaboration with the World Health Organisation’s regional office for Europe (WHO/Europe).

It is a follow-up to a similar report carried out by WHO/Europe, in which the organisation noted that the lack of comparable data limited its ability to assess the situation across the region.

It also called for the preparation of national reports which would be based on national, more detailed, data. Malta is actually the first to prepare such a report, a fact that was emphasised at the seminar by Matthias Braubach, who hails from the WHO European Centre for Environment and Health and who helped edit the national report.

The report focuses on three main aspects of inequalities in environmental health: Housingrelated, environment-related and injury-related inequalities.

In Malta’s case, WHO/Europe outlined exposure to secondhand smoke at work and at home, noise pollution and access to green areas as environmentrelated concerns, and falls and poisoning as injury-related concerns.

It actually did not outline any particular concerns when it comes to housing, where Malta tends to outperform the rest of Europe. But national statistics show a number of anomalous trends.

The percentage of the population unable to keep their home completely warm was slightly higher than the EU average in 2005, at a little over 12%. But it decreased at a faster rate over the next three years to a little over 8%, compared to an EU average of 10%.

But oddly, the trend reversed sharply in 2008, and the proportion increased considerably over the next three years. Close to 18% of the population reported to be unable to adequately warm their homes in 2011, the latest year for which figures are presently available.

Of course, 2008 was when a global financial crisis erupted, and its effect on the European economy in subsequent years could be a factor in this increase.

But this crisis also affected the rest of Europe – if anything, Malta is believed to have coped better than most – and the situation in Europe was vastly different. The proportion of people unable to adequately heat their homes actually decreased in 2009, and while it increased in the next two years, it remained slightly lower than 2008 levels in 2011.

The trend reversal, however, also coincides with the steep increase in electricity bills which was implemented in late 2008. The increase proved to be politically controversial, and reducing tariffs became the most prominent electoral pledge made by the victorious Labour Party in this year’s general election.

There is also another important factor: A steep price hike in the price of an important heating fuel: Liquefied petroleum gas, which followed the liberalisation of the market and the end of subsidised prices. A 12kg LPG cylinder cost €5.40 at the beginning of 2009: The price has since more than tripled to €18.30.

Correlation, obviously, does not necessarily imply causation, but it is perhaps reasonable to assume that increasing the cost to heat one’s home increases the proportion of people unable to afford to do so.

Of course, since the Maltese live in one of Europe’s warmest regions, keeping one’s home cool in summer is also a particular concern. But European statistics present a curious picture: The Maltese are among those least likely to state that they are unable to keep their home adequately cool in summer.

Just 16% said that excess heat was an issue – a proportion that is lower than that in Denmark and Finland, among others. All other southern European EU members, invariably, are at the top of the scale: In Portugal, 42% are unable to cool their home down adequately in warm weather.