Malta Property Blog

On Thursday December 14th. the Malta Business Weekly interviewed Mr. Douglas Salt, President of the Federation of Estate Agents (Malta). Below is the introduction; the full interview can be read here.

The Federation of Estate Agents has come a long way since its foundation a year ago. David Lindsay speaks to its president DOUGLAS SALT about, among other issues, the FEA’s initiatives aimed at continued training for the market’s players, differentiating between ethical agents and the cowboys, the effect of last year’s capital gains amendments and the health of the property market as it stands today.

Set up with the multiple aims of ensuring real estate business is conducted ethically, to generally raise the standard of the industry in Malta, to work the authorities concerned and to provide for continued professional training for players in the industry, the Federation of Estate Agents (FEA) has come a long way since its inception a little over a year ago, FEA president Douglas Salt explai…

By Ian Casolani - PRO of the Federation of Estate Agents

The continued increase in property prices, the unfortunate growing number of separated couples, the substantial number of new properties and large developments coming on the market, all highlight the need for a healthy rental market. This is now needed more than ever before, both to provide alternative accommodation for those who cannot afford to buy their first property, and for the vendor to satisfy the objective of those buying property for investment purposes or rental return.

To date, this market is governed by outdated and inadequate licensing policies and tax structures. Properties rented out on a long let basis for some reason still fall under the same tourism authority licensing guidelines for holiday premises, and the landlord is expected to pay an exorbitant licence fee equal to one month’s rent. This applies to rentals to foreigners and is subject to various conditions, including how long the tenant has been residing i…

The House of Representatives yesterday voted 33-28 in favour of a government motion that will extend the building development zones. MPs voted along party lines, despite a free vote having been granted by the opposition to its members.

The vote was taken following some heated exchanges between the government and the opposition after Opposition Leader Alfred Sant said there were reports that many thousands of liri had been paid by some land owners for their properties in Mosta to be included in the development zones and that there were reports among contractors that Environment Minister George Pullicino and his collaborators had travelled briefly to Sicily where the plans of the development zones were finalised.

Mr Pullicino challenged Dr Sant to repeat his claims outside the House for legal action to be taken. He said he had travelled to Sicily for a day with his policy coordinator and friend following the death of his mother, but the finalisation of the plans had nothing to do with the…

Very interesting article on the Business Times 11th. May 2006 by Massimo Farrugia entitled as above. The first few articles are below:

"A surge of undeclared funds that would surface as Malta adopts the euro is likely to be laundered into the property market or leave the country, Vince Farrugia, director general of the GRTU - the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises has warned.

There could be a spike in property prices as banknotes hidden beneath mattresses saw the light of day in the run up to euro day, he said."

The easiest way will be for people to invest their cash in property so that they may get their return in euros. Since Malta has a record amount of cash in circulation per capita, this will create an artificial demand for property, pushing up prices and making it even more prohibitive for business start-ups and those enterprises wanting to expand their premises to buy property," he said.

He said schemes encouraging undeclared money to come upstream would limit s…

www.maltastar.com which is affiliated with the Malta Labour Party (in the opposition) published this article, today 10th. May 2006 under the above title. The article can be read in full here and the opening paragraphs are below.

"In a controversial move, the government has decided to extend building permits to schemes lying outside the development zones that are currently available. According to data published in its annual reports by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA), the supply of land available for development under current arrangements is enough to service demand for the next twenty years or so.

Minister issues definite instructions

All MEPA policies have emphasised the need not to open up further land for building development. Government’s decision has not been welcomed by MEPA’s top guns or some of them. According to sources, Minister George Pullicino has written in strong terms, definite instructions to the MEPA board to enforce government’s decision.
A “cons…

On today's Times of Malta 10th. May 2006, veteran realtor Frank Salt weighs in on the lack of property maintenance procedures in maltese apartment blocks. The article under the heading "Deteriorating in front of our eyes" can be read in full here (will be archived by the newspaper in a month from today), and an excerpt from the article follows below.

"Maintaining a block of apartments is not like maintaining your own house as there are others to consult and consider, and each individual owner has to pay their fair share. At present, the normal annual maintenance fee for even a good quality block of apartments is usually quite low, never taking into consideration the eventual need to spend large amounts of money on structural maintenance.
In places like London, there are rules imposed by local councils, that blocks of apartments and houses have to be painted and maintained on the outside and the inside every so many years. This is why in the better areas the properties…