Renting property or holiday accommodation in Malta

Really enjoyed your post! I'm still living in London but looking to take s six month sabbatical in Malta . It looks so easy on line but your advice is well taken.(won't stop me coming though!). Thanks again.

Hello Ian! I would not think about anyone convincing not to go to Malta. It is a great country with great people, but nowhere is perfect. What I miss here is green trees (that maltese miss too), and fresh water.

One more tip for you.... best to come to Malta is end of the year. Prices for lets drop much and availability rises. And do a 1 year long let. Because if you will be doing only 6 month at the time your contract will expire at the beginning of high season. in the spring, do it in March, or latest April.... for a six months, lol . If I would be the owner I would not do it, but maltese think differently. For them all year is somehow the same.

Welcome to Malta!

Thanks. Don't know if I can hold on till next spring though. I came over on a whim two months ago for a quick break and loved it immediately. I'm a writer and think it's a great stress free place to get some head space away from London . My budget would be around €650 a month and it does look very doable on line atleast but I will be careful and follow your excellent advice! Cheers

Same boat as IanBirch57 (greetings from Surrey Quays).

Have read a lot of posts, have trawled through a lot of Letting websites and I think I need to get back to Malta to do this rather than here in London.  It looks so easy, but I'm beginning to literally throw my trust at everyone on here who have obviously been through this procedure and come out of it with a mass of experience.

I've already decided that I'm coming over end of October/beginning of November for a few week with a few of moving over for 6 month about end of November/start of December.  We've decided on Bugibba, it ticks almost every box and I think would be a good introduction into a lifestyle over there.

expat1973, I've thanked you before but also have top thank you again, really interesting post and given a good explanation as to how things work over there.

Regarding the duration of the rental agreement, I'd like to share the following piece of advice a (very helpful) agent gave us: It might be better to agree to a year's contract even if you're planning to just stay for a shorter time (e.g. 8 or 9 months), as all you'll lose if you leave earlier is the deposit (usually 1 month's rent), but owners are often willing to give you a far better price if the contract says one year - so it pays off in the end.

And with regards to internet it may also be useful to have a contract with a longer term - when I went to Melita, first thing they checked was how long the rental agreement was for...

Bernie

Hi Bernie,

6month or 1year contract - what is better really depends on that, why someone is coming to Malta in the first place. Price for 1year may be lower, but not always. Completely depends on each landlord. Some even do not want to sign contract for more than 1 year, because they are assuming that rental prices will rise, and they can earn more with next contract.

For the first time visiting Malta i would still recommend 6month contract, and then searching for really most suitable place to be in Malta.

Be aware also that if you stay here for 6 months or more in one year, you are already resident of Malta, what means for example that you should not be allowed to drive a car with foreign plates here, and you should get Maltese ID too.

Internet providers want to secure themselves, if the person does not have Maltese ID, most often with larger deposit in the case that you break the contract. The best is that the landlord already has installed internet in the property and you pay just for using it.

What is the rule - always do long let (6 months or more), even if you do not intend to stay so long. I say, you never know, you may like it so much that you stay for all your life. Or opposite, you come for long, but you do not like it so much, and just want to go....

expat1973 wrote:

Internet providers want to secure themselves, if the person does not have Maltese ID, most often with larger deposit in the case that you break the contract. The best is that the landlord already has installed internet in the property and you pay just for using it.

Interestingly we didn't have any issues with this. Melita wanted a 50 euro deposit on a monthly (on a rolling basis) contract. That's it. Also a slightly higher monthly fee but that's because we had no resident cards, rental contract was just six months, and so on... a very fair deal IMO compared to anywhere else (Spain, UK, Portugal all ask for more documents/guarantees).

Hi Expat1973,

As a UK expat, can I rent out my property in Malta ?

Why not? You just have to pay taxes

It says on Frank Salt's website that only Maltese can rent out their properties