Rent reform by early 2009

Rent reform legislation should be in place by the beginning of next year once the draft law and a report outlining changes to the White Paper are tabled in Parliament in the coming weeks.

After taking on board suggestions made during consultation on the White Paper, Cabinet yesterday approved changes and was "considering" the introduction of fiscal incentives to encourage owners and tenants to reach an agreement, Social Policy Minister John Dalli said when contacted. Political party clubs, which were previously excluded from the reform, will now be included and there will be provisions for band clubs, he said.

The White Paper on rent reform was launched for consultation in June with the aim to gradually phase out Malta's pre-1995 rent laws under a proposed reform, based on protecting the tenure of current residents, ensuring rents were fair, and enabling landlords to eventually repossess their properties.

While generally praised as the first step towards eradicating the "biggest social injustice" Malta faced today, several social partners made recommendations for changes during the consultation period that closed at the end of summer.

The Chamber of Commerce had suggested adjusting the €185 minimum rent of residential properties (rented before 1995) and the immediate revoking of all requisition orders. Mr Dalli said the minimum rate would remain as is, due to "social considerations" behind this decision.

He said government was in the process of removing requisition orders and was "committed to remove them", so much so that, there were about 1,500 pending out of the thousands that were in place in the past.

The Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU had suggested separating the residential and commercial reforms and postponing the latter. This suggestion was not taken on board by Cabinet as "we are after a complete reform," Mr Dalli said.

The Cabinet yesterday gave the go-ahead for the publication of the Bill that is expected to be tabled in Parliament within the next few weeks. A full report on all suggestions made and how they were moved will also be tabled, Mr Dalli explained.

Meanwhile, consultations will start with the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development. Mr Dalli hoped to close the second reading of the Bill by the Christmas recess so that it will move on to Committee stage, where changes and amendments will be made by the end of January.