GWU lease deal ‘may affect’ social housing

Advice by the Attorney General after the Audit Office found irregularities in the lease of part of the GWU’s headquarters had “potential ramifications” for social housing, a government spokesman said.

The National Audit Office report tabled in Parliament in October concluded that the GWU had broken lease conditions when it sublet office space at its headquarters in Valletta to State billing company ARMS Ltd, travel agency Vjaġġi Untours and restaurant Sciacca Grill.

If the government endorsed the conclusions of the report and followed the Land Disposal Act, the GWU’s actions would have repercussions for government-owned land, extending to those in social housing, legal sources said.

The government has acknowledged the potential repercussions, with the spokesman telling this newspaper that “work on the advice is in progress”.

The union argued that its position was justified on the basis of the legal advice it received from retired judge Philip Sciberras that it was enough for it to redeem its ground rent for €16,026.

‘In fairness, this is by no means straightforward’

The land where the union’s offices stand had been transferred to the GWU by the government.

According to case law,...