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The shared residential space contract

2/5/2021

Standard shared residential space contract taken from the official Housing Authority website below this blog.

The 2020 Residential Leases Act defines the letting of shared residential space as "the letting of any separate space in an apartment or building, with shared amenities, such as kitchen and bathroom facilities."

The duration of a contract for the lease of a shared residential space is 6 months.

The tenant may withdraw from the lease at any time by giving 1 week's notice by registered mail.

Shared residential space contracts cannot be extended and therefore neither party needs to give notice.

This is a standard contract for a shared residential space, taken from the official Housing Authority website:

letting-of-shared-residential-space.pdf
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The short let residential contract

2/5/2021

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Standard short let residential contract taken from the official Housing Authority website below this blog.

Short let contracts of 6 months or less are only for the categories (a) to (d) listed below:

A short let contract has to identify which of the categories (a) to (d) it falls under and also provide evidence for this. If it does not do this, then the contract will be deemed to be a long let residential contract.

The maximum length of a short let contract is 6 months.

Short let contracts cannot be extended and therefore neither party needs to give any notice.

The di fermo period for short let contracts is 1 month.

After the di fermo period of 1 month the tenant may withdraw from the contract without penalty as long as they give 1 week's notice by registered mail.

This is a standard short let contract, taken from the official Housing Authority website:

short-private-residential-leases.pdf
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The long let residential contract

1/5/2021

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Standard long let residential contract taken from the official Housing Authority website below this blog.

Before the 2020 Residential Leases Act, the practice of letting the property for a period of 9 months, for example, in off peak season, and then to tourists as a holiday let in peak season was probably one factor causing rents to spiral ever upwards. This also caused huge insecurity for tenants caught in this situation.

Therefore, long private residential leases cannot have a duration of less than 1 year. This means that a contract of 8 months, for example, will be considered to be a contract for 1 year.

Before the 2020 Residential Leases Act was enacted, tenants were kept in the dark as to whether or not the landlord was going to renew the contract until very close to the end of the contract. This was another factor causing rents to spiral and also causing huge uncertainty for some tenants. Effectively tenants were sometimes only given days' notice of a sizeable increase in rent, which made the option of looking elsewhere for a property within budget impossible in the limited time available to them.

This problematic behaviour was addressed by the Residential Leases Act. Post 2020, if the landlord does not want to renew the contract, then they must give 3 months' notice of this to the tenant by registered mail. If they do not do this, then the contract is automatically renewed for another year.

Pre 2020, if a tenant wanted to exit the contract earlier than the end of the contractual term, they would still be held liable for the rent of the remaining contractual period if the property was not let to another party in the meantime. This was problematic for some tenants for various reasons.

In line with many other countries, therefore, tenants can withdraw with no penalty from a long private residential lease:

after a period of 6 months when the rental contract is for a period of less than 2 years
after a period of 9 months when the rental contract is for a period of 2 years or more but less than 3 years
after a period of 12 months in the case where the rental contract is for a period of 3 years or more

If the tenant withdraws from a long private residential contract before the lapse of the di fermo periods specified above, then the landlord may retain an amount not exceeding 1 month's rent from the deposit left by the tenant. The landlord may choose to take legal action against the tenant for any other outstanding amount.

While the landlord must give at least 3 months' notice of their intention to renew the lease or not, the tenant must give the following notice by registered mail:

1 month's notice when the contract is for a period of less than 2 years
2 months' notice when the contract is for a period of between 2 to 3 years
3 months' notice when the contractd is for a period of 3 years or more

This is a standard long private residential contract, taken from the official Housing Authority website:

long-private-residential-leases.pdf
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Quick checklist of things to know and do before renting in Malta

25/4/2021

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The Residential Leases Act has changed the game plan considerably for prospective tenants who want to rent in Malta. Tenants need to know this. So I've prepared a checklist of things you need to know, and forms you and your landlord need to complete before you settle on a particular rental property.

1. Do NOT put down a holding deposit for a property before seeing the property, checking the contract or signing the contract. Letting agents are still not regulated and some think nothing of showing you a property belonging to a landlord who has absolutely no intention of registering the contract, which is more often than not ridden with clauses in breach of the Maltese Civil Code and / or the Residential Leases Act. Please note that it is the responsibility of the landlord to register the contract. If they do not do this then they are in breach of the law and there are serious sanctions, including fines, prosecution in a civil and / or criminal court plus the rent being reduced to below market value for a year for the tenant. (See item number 6 below.) If you do put down a holding deposit and then decide against the property, you will have great difficulty in getting back your deposit. Do not be pressurised to put down a holding deposit. Any pressure to do this should be a warning sign and you should WALK AWAY.

2. Make sure that the contract includes the 7 essential requirements which are:

the property to be leased
the agreed use of the property to be leased
the period for which that property will be let
whether the lease may be extended and in what manner
the amount of rent that shall be paid and the manner by which such payment shall be made
the amount deposited by the tenant as security for their obligations
an inventory, in the form of documentary evidence, attesting to the condition of the property as well as the state of any furniture and appliances

If a contract is missing one or more of the above requirements, then it is unregisterable and null and void. In this case, neither the landlord nor the tenant will be protected by the Maltese Civil Code or the Residential Leases Act. The tenant can walk out of the property at any time they like without penalty. Neither party can submit a dispute if the contract is not registered. However, if the contract includes all 7 essential requirements, then the tenant can register the contract themselves. The fee for this registration will be payable by the landlord. The tenant can deduct this amount from the rent.

3. Under the Residential Leases Act, the onus is on the landlord to make sure that their tenants are on the correct Arms tariff via Arms Form H. If, for any reason, the tenant is on the incorrect Arms tariff for people living in their primary residence, the Residential Leases Act is very clear that the landlord will have to refund the overcharge or the tenant can reduce the rent paid by this amount. Therefore it is in your landlord's interests to make sure that Arms Form H - change in the declaration of number of persons - is completed. The landlord needs to complete Section A as account holder. The tenants need to complete Section B. All concerned need to provide copies of photo identification.

Arms Form H.pdf
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4. Also under the Residential Leases Act, the landlord is obliged to make sure that the tenant only pays for their consumption of water and electricity. Again, if it is clear that the tenant has paid for some other occupant's consumption of water and electricity, the landlord will have to refund the difference. Therefore, it is in your landlord's interests to make sure that Arms Form N - Verification of Pending Dues is completed at the start of the tenancy. This will zero the Arms bill so that you, the tenant, will not pay for the utility bills of the property's previous occupants.

Arms Form N.pdf
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5. If there are any issues during your tenancy please note that you can submit an online dispute. This costs 10 euro and a decision will be made within 5 working days of last submissions. You can only submit a dispute if the contract is registered. Please note that phoning the Housing Authorithy or emailing the Housing Authority with your complaint will not work. You need to follow the correct procedure which is to submit an online dispute. Make sure you include all possible evidence for your complaint.

6. If you cannot register the contract because it is missing one or more of the essential requirements, you can report the tenancy. The Housing Authority will confirm that you do indeed reside in the property. The sanctions for the landlord in this case are fines and / or prosecution in a civil or criminal court of law. Moreover, the rent will be reduced to below market rates for a certain period.

For more detailed information on the Residential Leases Act please see:

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Onus now on the landlord to ensure that the tenant is on the correct Arms tariff

21/4/2021

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Article 17 and Article 7f of the new Residential Leases Act legislate for the burning issue of tenant utility bills. Over the decades thousands of tenants have overpaid by thousands of euro on their Arms bills. Despite the best efforts of many - including yours truly - Arms, the sole, state owned utility billing company, continued to overcharge tenants for their utilities with impunity. I am confident that Article 17 and Article 7f of the Residential Leases Act will put paid to this, once and for all.

The gist of the legislation is as follows:

1. The landlord has to make sure that their tenants are on the correct Arms tariff for people living in their primary residence. They can do this by completing Sections A and C of Arms Form H - Change in the Declaration of Number of Persons. All occupants of the rental property need to complete Section B. Both landlord and tenants need to provide copies of identification documents.

Arms Form H.pdf
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2. If the landlord does not do this, then they will be liable for any overcharge incurred by the tenant, with the tenant allowed to deduct any overcharge from the rent.

3. The tenant must have access to the proper Arms bill - green, 2 pages. If the tenant does not have access to the Arms bill, then they are not obliged to pay the bill. Please note that the Arms online calculator, for various reasons, is not a reliable indicator of the cost of your utilities. The Arms online calculator itself contains this disclaimer:

4. The landlord cannot take the law into their own hands and unilaterally cut off any water and electricity supply to effect an illegal eviction, no matter the perceived justification. This has always been a criminal act but over the years landlords, letting agents and sometimes even lawyers (I kid you not) have decided that landlords could behave in this way. This is in breach of Article 85 of the Criminal Code:

5. Article 1570 of the Civil Code provides a legal mechanism for the eviction of defaulting tenants. If a tenant fails to pay the water and electricity bills, then this will be considered to be a partial default and will entitle the landlord to demand a dissolution of the rental contract. The contract will be terminated if the tenant fails to pay the outstanding Arms bills or the outstanding rent within fifteen days from the notification of a judicial letter.

6. Article 7 lists a series of forbidden clauses. If any of these forbidden clauses are listed in a rental contract they are completely without effect. Therefore the tenant can rest assured that these clauses can be ignored.

Article 7f prohibits clauses which stipulate the payment of a fixed amount on account towards the Arms bill. This ties in with Article 17f which stipulates that the tenant is not obliged to pay unless given access to the proper Arms bill - green, 2 pages.

Furthermore Article 7f stipulates that the tenant must only pay for their consumption of utilities. Therefore the landlord cannot pass on the bills of previous occupants of the rental property to their new tenants. I would advise all prospective landlords and tenants to therefore make sure that they complete Arms Form N - Authorisation of Verification of Pending Dues at the start of the tenancy so as to zero the Arms bill.

Arms Form N.pdf
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If a tenant wants to be a joint account holder with the landlord of the Arms bill, then a deposit of 466 euro and a non refundable fee of 50 euro are payable. Arms Form F2 - Temporary Recognition of Tenant in Rented Premises will need to be completed. The tenant will then be responsible for the completion of Arms Form H to make sure that they are on the correct Arms tariff for people living in their primary residence.

Arms Form F2.pdf
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Personally I do not see any advantage in being an account holder. Going the Arms Form H route is completely free and the Residential Leases Act is very clear that the landlord will be liable for any overcharge.

Finally, if there are any breaches of the Residential Leases Act where Arms bills are concerned, then for the price of 10 euro, either party can submit an online dispute. The Residential Leases Act is very clear on the obligations of both landlords and tenants where Arms bills are concerned. A decision will be made by the Dispute Panel within 5 working days of last submissions.

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The shared residential space contract

The short let residential contract

The long let residential contract

Quick checklist of things to know and do before renting in Malta

Onus now on the landlord to ensure that the tenant is on the correct Arms tariff

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