If you’ve been waiting for the perfect time to give new life to a vacant property you own, the time might finally be here. In a new scheme announced today by the government, you’ll be able to get a maximum grant of €25,000 for your project.

The Housing Authority’s Rehabilitation of Vacant Dwelling for Rental Scheme is offering up a one-time grant to owners of empty residential buildings, and the trade-off will see you getting a steady income even after the refurbishments.

So what does ‘vacant’ actually mean?

The scheme’s definition of this is a building which is older than 30 years and which has been vacant for at least one year. In fact, the scheme uses the terms ‘vacant’ and ‘derelict’ interchangeably.

The rehabilitation works must be considered ‘viable’ at the absolute discretion of the Housing Authority. They also need to be completed within 12 months from the date of approval.

The cash grant can be for anything from extraordinary structural repairs and roof waterproofing to floor tile and internal door replacements.

That sounds all well and good… but what’s the catch?

In return for granting you €25,000 to fix up the property (which needs to be in a fully-finished state by the end), the government asks you to sign a contract to rent it out for 10 years. 

During that period, however, you will get the money for the constant rent… not to mention an increase of 2% for every year.

After 10 years, you can either choose to extend the contract, or get the property all to yourself.

The scheme was announced earlier today by Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes as a short-term measure to improve Malta’s current social housing situation. 

This follows other measures introduced in the past months to increase housing units, such as the construction of 680 apartments in 16 sites, the introduction of affordable loans to those unable to pay up the initial 10% deposit, and the House Rent Scheme launched last August.

Applications will be open starting from tomorrow the 21st of February, and will be open for the next year. If you’ve been meaning to do this however, we wouldn’t recommend waiting too long on this. 

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David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).