MDA calls on government to fix rent law anomaly

The Malta Developers Association has joined the calls for an update of laws regulating pre-1995 leases, which have been declared as unconstitutional by the courts.

This after the most recent court decision, ruling that the law regulating leases entered into before 1995 breached the rights of the property’s owners by fixing a miserly amount of rent for properties requisitioned by the government for social housing.

“The Malta Developers Association notes that our Courts have found – for yet another time – that the rent law regime that applies to pre-1995 rents breaches the fundamental rights of owners to enjoy their property.

“This breach in the owners’ constitutional rights results from the situation in which owners are finding themselves being in the position where they can neither get their property back nor increase the annual rent received from tenants. Meanwhile, tenants keep expecting to pay the rent as established by a law that is unconstitutional."

"The current so-called ‘rent reform’ skirts around this problem since it does not affect rents established before 1995," argued the association.

The MDA said that is would be “ridiculous” if all landlords in this position were to sue government with the Courts having to deal with each request on a case-by-case basis. “Apart from flooding the courts with unnecessary cases, expecting each landlord to fork out the expenses for a Court case until the case is won is also highly unfair.”

The association appealed to the Government to urgently amend the law and eliminate this anomalous situation. “In this regard, MDA is prepared to discuss the issue with government and other stakeholders so that a just solution is found to the problem and the law is amended accordingly.”