Foreigners can buy property in Malta, but most non-residents need an AIP permit (Acquisition of Immovable Property) and may hold only one property, for their own residential use. The exception is a Special Designated Area, where buyers of any nationality purchase on the same terms as Maltese citizens — no permit, no limit on the number of units and no restriction on letting.
Malta is a small, deeds-based market in which the notary — not the estate agent, and not your own lawyer — carries out the title investigation and registers the sale. That single fact should shape how a foreign buyer behaves. The notary is a public officer who owes duties to the transaction, not an advocate acting only for you, and the three checks that most often cost foreign buyers money here (ground rent, unsanctioned building works, and the permit itself) all need to be raised before you sign the promise of sale, not after.
Can foreigners buy property in Malta?
Yes. There is no nationality bar on ownership. What changes with your status is whether you need a government permit and how many properties you may hold at once. The framework comes from the Immovable Property (Acquisition by Non-Residents) Act, Chapter 246 of the Laws of Malta.
- EU, EEA or Swiss nationals who have been resident in Malta for at least five continuous years — buy freely, any number of properties, on the same footing as Maltese nationals.
- EU, EEA or Swiss nationals without those five years — no permit is needed for a primary residence or for immovable property required for your business activity; a permit is needed for a secondary or holiday home.
- Non-EU nationals — an AIP permit is needed for any acquisition, and in practice you are limited to one property, for residential use by you and your family.
- Any buyer purchasing in a Special Designated Area — no permit, no numerical limit, and no restriction on renting the property out.
If you have compared several markets, the pattern will look familiar: Malta restricts who may accumulate property rather than restricting the type of title you get, which is closer to the German model than to the leasehold-and-nominee structures described in our guides on buying property in Germany and buying property in Bali. What you buy in Malta is, in principle, the same freehold a Maltese buyer gets — subject to the ċens question below.
What is an AIP permit and how long does it take?
The AIP permit is an authorisation issued by the Maltese authorities allowing a non-resident to acquire a specific property. The application is made once you have identified the property, usually by your notary, and it attaches conditions: the property must be for residential use by you and your household, it must not be let out, and the price must meet a minimum value threshold. Those thresholds are index-linked and revised annually — there is a lower figure for apartments and maisonettes and a higher one for houses and other property. Do not rely on a figure you read in an older article; ask your notary for the current year's published minimums before you make an offer.
Processing normally takes several weeks. The practical consequence is that your promise of sale must be made conditional on the permit being granted, with a long enough period to cover the wait. A konvenju that expires while your AIP application is still pending puts your deposit at risk.
What are Special Designated Areas?
SDAs are developments the government has opened to unrestricted foreign ownership in order to attract investment. Buying in one removes the permit requirement, the one-property limit and the letting ban in a single step. Established examples include Portomaso and Pendergardens in St Julian's, Tigné Point and Fort Cambridge in Sliema, Manoel Island, SmartCity in Kalkara, Tas-Sellum in Mellieħa, Madliena Village, Ta' Monita in Marsascala, and Fort Chambray in Gozo. The list is added to from time to time, and a development being marketed as "SDA" is not proof that it is one — the designation is made by legal notice and your notary can confirm it.
How much does it cost to buy property in Malta?
The headline transfer cost for a buyer is stamp duty at 5% of the price, paid in two stages: 1% when the promise of sale is registered with the tax authorities, and the remaining 4% on the final deed. Registration of the konvenju is time-limited — it must be filed within 21 days of signing — so this is not a step to leave to the last minute.
| Item | Who normally pays | Typical amount |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp duty | Buyer | 5% of the price (1% on the konvenju, 4% on the deed) |
| Notarial fees | Buyer | Commonly quoted at 1%–2% of the price |
| Searches and registration | Buyer | Charged by the notary, usually a few hundred euro |
| AIP permit application | Buyer, where required | A one-off government fee |
| Estate agency commission | Seller | Usually around 5% plus VAT |
| Architect's report or valuation | Buyer | Optional, and worth it on older stock |
Reliefs exist and change with each annual budget. A first-time buyer exemption applies to a slice of the value for people acquiring their first residential property, and there have been reduced-rate schemes for property in Urban Conservation Areas, vacant property and traditional Maltese houses. These are conditional and their availability shifts, so treat any relief as something to be confirmed for the year you actually sign, not assumed.
Plan for the exit as well as the entry. When you later sell, Malta generally applies a final withholding tax on the transfer value rather than a conventional capital gains calculation — commonly 8%, with different rates in defined cases and an exemption where the property was your own residence for a qualifying period. The rate that applies depends on when you acquired, how long you held it and what you used it for, so it is a question for a Maltese tax adviser before you sign, not after you have a buyer.
Tell us the property and your nationality, and we will connect you with a firm in Malta.
Do I need a lawyer if the notary does the searches?
The notary's role in Malta is substantial and cannot be skipped. They trace the root of title through the Public Registry — and, where the property sits in a registration area, the Land Registry — draft the konvenju and the final deed, hold the deposit, collect and remit the duty, and register the transfer. Because much of Malta is not in a registration area, title is often proved by tracing deeds back over decades rather than by consulting a single register entry. That work is skilled and it is the notary who does it.
What the notary is not is your negotiator. A separate advocate is worth engaging when you want someone to argue for conditions in the konvenju rather than accept the seller's draft, to check the Planning Authority record for unsanctioned works, to read the condominium rules and the position on common parts, to advise on whether buying personally or through a company suits your tax position, and to handle source-of-funds documentation. The same division of labour is set out in our cross-border checklist for buying property abroad, and it applies with particular force in notary-led systems.
What are the title traps in Malta?
A great deal of Maltese property is held under emphyteusis, meaning you own the property subject to an annual ground rent payable to a third party. Where that emphyteusis is temporary, it has an expiry date, and on expiry the property can revert to the direttarju unless the ground rent has been redeemed or converted. Buyers have paid full freehold prices for property with a limited unexpired term. Ask, in writing and before the konvenju: is this freehold, perpetual emphyteusis or temporary emphyteusis, what is the annual ċens, how many years remain, and can it be redeemed and at what cost?
Two further Maltese quirks catch foreign buyers. First, the roof and airspace above an apartment are frequently owned separately from the unit — so the terrace you were shown, or the right to build above you, may belong to someone else entirely. Second, unsanctioned building works are common in older stock: closed balconies, rooms added on roofs, converted washrooms. Sanctioning after the fact is sometimes possible but never guaranteed, and the liability follows the property. Undivided shares between heirs are a third recurring problem, where one co-owner signs but the others have not agreed to sell.
Can I rent the property out?
Not if you bought under an AIP permit outside a Special Designated Area — the permit conditions prohibit letting, and breaching them is not a paperwork problem. Inside an SDA, letting is permitted.
Where you may let, two registration duties apply. Short-term holiday accommodation requires a licence from the Malta Tourism Authority before you list the property, and long residential leases must be registered under Malta's private residential leases regime, which also sets minimum terms and notice rules. Rental income earned by individuals from residential property can be taxed under an optional flat final rate on gross rents instead of ordinary rates; whether that is better than the normal computation depends on your costs and your residence position.
Does buying property give me residence in Malta?
No. Buying property does not, by itself, give you the right to live in Malta. Non-EU buyers remain subject to Schengen short-stay limits unless they hold a separate permission. There are residence routes with a property component — where a qualifying purchase or lease at a minimum value forms part of a wider set of conditions — and those minimums and conditions have been revised more than once in recent years. The investor-citizenship route in particular has been the subject of significant EU-level litigation and its status has changed, so anything you read about it that predates 2025 should be treated as out of date. Our guide to Malta residence and citizenship options for foreigners covers the routes; the practical point for a buyer is that immigration eligibility and property eligibility are two separate assessments and should be run in parallel, not one after the other.
Foreign buyers coming from other Mediterranean markets often expect a residence permit to follow automatically from a purchase, as it does in some neighbouring jurisdictions — see our Greece legal checklist for the contrast. Malta does not work that way.
Figures last verified August 2026 against the sources listed at the end of this guide. Stamp duty reliefs, AIP minimum value thresholds and residence programme requirements are revised at least annually in Malta, so confirm the current figures with a Maltese notary or lawyer before you commit.
Официальные источники
Правила, сборы и пороги меняются. Перед тем как действовать, сверьтесь с официальным источником.
- Identitàмиграционная служба
- Commissioner for Tax and Customsналоговый орган