The Rent Regulation Board ordered a controlled rent of €38/year raised to €4,800/year after a means test confirmed the tenants qualified for protection under Cap. 69.
Rent Regulation Board · Magistrate Dr. Joseph Gatt LL.D. · 13 May 2026
The applicants — a group of co-owners of property No. 15/16, Triq il-Foss, Birgu — brought proceedings before the Rent Regulation Board seeking a review of the rent paid by their long-standing tenant, Robert Carter. The property had been requisitioned in December 1983 and allocated to Carter in March 1984, with an annual rent of just Lm16 (approximately €38). After de-requisitioning in June 2007, the rent had crept up to only €217.66 per year — a figure the landlords argued bore no relation to the property's true market value. The applicants invoked Article 4A of Chapter 69 of the Laws of Malta, which provides a mechanism for rent revision subject to a means test of the tenant. If the tenant passes the means test (i.e., falls below income and capital thresholds), the rent may be revised up to a maximum of 2% per year of the property's free-market value. If the tenant fails the means test, the Board may order the tenant to vacate. The Board appointed two technical expert members — Periti Robert Musumeci and Bernice Van Dijk — who unanimously valued the property at €240,000 at the relevant time, explicitly excluding any development potential. The Board accepted this valuation in full, noting that under Constitutional Court jurisprudence, development potential is irrelevant for rent revision purposes since the property remains in the owners' hands. The means test, carried out under Subsidiary Legislation 16.11, confirmed that Robert and Mary Carter satisfied the income and capital criteria, meaning they qualified for continued protection but subject to a revised rent. The Board, citing consistent Constitutional Court authority that the percentage should normally be set near the maximum of 2%, found no exceptional circumstances justifying a lower rate. It accordingly fixed the new annual rent at €4,800 (€400 per month, payable bi-monthly in advance), effective from the date of the judgment. The Board also clarified that two of the applicant co-owners — Mireille Zammit and Veronique Zammit — held only bare ownership of one share, not usufruct, and therefore were excluded from receiving the rent attributable to that share. Each party was ordered to bear its own costs, and the Housing Authority's costs were left untaxed.
The Board ordered the annual rent for property 15/16, Triq il-Foss, Birgu to be revised from approximately €217.66 to €4,800 per year (€400 per month, payable bi-monthly in advance), effective from the date of the judgment (13 May 2026). Mireille Zammit and Veronique Zammit were excluded from receiving the rent attributable to the share formerly held by Francis Zammit, as they hold only bare ownership. Each party bears its own costs; Housing Authority costs left untaxed.
Chapter 69 of the Laws of Malta (Housing (Decontrol) Ordinance), Article 4A; Act XXIV of 2021; Subsidiary Legislation 16.11 (means test regulations)