New heights policy paves way for property boom

A planning policy approved last year is already paving the way for the approval of extra storeys over and above the present height limitations – without the need of amending the local plans.

This is because a policy officially known as DC 15 (Development Control Policy and Design Guidelines), translates the maximum allowable storeys as laid out in a 2006 local plan, into a specific height in metres

That means that while previously developers could not build any more floors than the maximum allowable in the local plan, they can now edge up higher as long as they stay within the maximum height in metres.

Architects who spoke to this newspaper foresee a building boom in localities such as the Sliema and Gzira seafronts, which could result in more properties being placed on the market: at least three planning applications have been proposed in the past weeks proposing a ninth floor in different areas along Tower Road and The Strand in Sliema, where only eight floors are allowed.

There could also be side effects – apart from the risk of over-heating the market, the new policy may create more inconvenience for residents and motorists, as more areas along the front are turned into building sites.

“In areas where the height limitation is already eight floors there is a good chance of inserting an extra floor when you measure the height of the building in metres, especially if each floor as built in the past was not very high,” an architect who spoke to this newspaper said.  

There is a higher likelihood of an extra storey in areas where eight and seven floors are already allowed than in areas with a lower height limitation, simply because if each individual floor was built half a metre lower than the standard four metres, this would translate into buildings which are four metres lower than the height limitation in metres set in the new policy.

But architects do not exclude that the new policy will also have an impact in areas where five, six and seven floors are already allowed. Moreover the new policy also allows higher buildings in all street corners.

The architects referred to the fact that in the past decades one could find discrepancies in the height of each floor in different apartment buildings. In areas where individual floors are somewhat lower than the norm, developers may find space to fit another storey.  

While this may serve to bring greater uniformity by allowing developers to fill gaps between individual blocks, in other areas it could serve to create new blank party walls and thus encourage neighbouring owners to add extra storeys too.

In fact the new policy translates the height of eight floors to between 33.4 and 35.5 metres, depending on whether basements and semi-basements are also allowed in that particular area.

Then, in areas where seven floors are allowed, the allowable height is now between 29.9 and 32 metres.

The policy itself states that a “building shall not exceed the permissible height as established in the Local Plans”, but it also adds these heights are to be interpreted according to Annex 2 of the document which translates the heights in floors, into heights in metres.

A previous policy approved in 2007 had also translated the allowable number of storeys in height into metres, but the building heights were lower than those approved last year.

So a height limitation of eight storeys was converted to between 30.3 and 32.3 metres. The height of seven storeys was converted to between 26.5 and 28.5 metres.  This suggests that the new policy is more liberal in setting building heights.

Moreover the policy specifies that “a building shall not exceed the permitted number of floors, as specified in the Local Plans, and also the allowable maximum height in metres.” This clearly excluded extra storeys over and above the local plan limits.

Of the three planning applications submitted in the past weeks for Sliema, one proposes an “additional floor on the eighth floor” on a recently approved block in Triq ix-Xatt and Triq Lunzjata along the Strand.

Another application foresees a receded ninth floor on an existing Tower Road block opposite Ghar id-Dud. 

Sonnet Investments, whose sole director is Ian Decesare, is proposing a sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and penthouse level floors on another block in Triq ix-Xatt in the vicinity of Bisazza Street.

The applications have been filed in the wake of persistent rumours that the Malta Environment and Planning Authority is considering a relaxation of height limitations which would allow an extra storey along the Sliema front, where present policies limit development to eight storeys. But it now turns out that policies have already been changed to relax the local plan height limitations.