ACT No. XXVII of 2018 An Act to amend the Housing (Decontrol) Ordinance, Cap. 158.

I assent.

(L.S.)

MARIE-LOUISE

COLEIRO PRECA

President

10th July, 2018

ACT No. XXVII of 2018

An Act to amend the Housing (Decontrol) Ordinance, Cap. 158.

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:-

(1) The short title of this Act is Housing (Decontrol)

commencement.

Ordinance (Amendment) Act, 2018 and this Act shall be read and

construed as one with the Housing (Decontrol) Ordinance, hereinafter

referred to as "the Ordinance".

(2) This Act shall come into force on such date as the Minister

responsible for Justice may by order in th Gazette establish and different

dates may be established and different transitory provisions may be

made in respect of different purposes and provisions of this Act.

In the proviso to the definition "tenant" in article 2 of the

Ordinance the words "articles 5 and 12" shall be substituted by the

words "articles 5, 12, 12A and 12B".

In sub-article (1) of article 12 of the Ordinance the words "and

of article 12A" shall be substituted by the words "and of articles 12A

and 12B".

Immediately after article 12A of the Ordinance, there shall be

added the following new article

(1) Where a person is in occupation of a

dwelling house under title of lease created by virtue of

a previous title of emphyteusis or sub-emphyteusis

which commenced before the 1st June 1995 through

the application of article 5, 12, or 12A the following

conditions shall, insofar as they are inconsistent with

the provisions of the said articles of this Ordinance

apply in respect of such lease as from, the 10th April

2018 notwithstanding the provisions of the said articles

of the Ordinance or of any other law.

(2) The owner shall be entitled to file an

a p p l i c a t i o n b e f o r e th e Re n t R e g u l a t i o n B o a r d

demanding that the rent be revised to an amount not

exceeding two percent per annum of the open market

freehold value of the dwelling house on the 1st January

of the year during which the application is filed and

that new conditions be established in respect of the

lease.

(3) The procedure applicable to the hearing of

applications before the Rent Regulation Board shall

apply to the hearing of an application made under sub-

article (1)

Provided that

(i) the Housing Authority shall be

notified with the application and shall have a

right to fully participate as amicus curiae in the

proceedings; and

(ii) the tenant and the landlord shall

always be entitled to the benefit of legal aid in

proceedings filed in terms of this article if they

are not in full-time gainful employment; and

(iii) at the initial stage of the proceedings

the Board shall conduct a means test of the tenant

which shall be based on the means test provided

for in the Continuation of Tenancies (Means

Testing Criteria) Regulations issued under

articles 1531F and 1622A of the Civil Code or

any regulations from time to time replacing them.

The means test shall be based on the income of

the tenant between the 1st January and the 31st

December of the year preceding the year when

the proceedings are commenced and the capital

of the tenant on the 31st December of the said

year. The means test shall be conducted with

particular reference, inter alia, to regulations 4 to

8 of the said regulations which shall apply

mutatis mutandis.

(4) Where the tenant does not meet the income

and capital criteria of the means test the Board shall,

after hearing any evidence and submissions produced

by the parties, give judgement allowing the tenant a

period of five years to vacate the premises. The

compensation for occupation of the premises payable

to the owner during the said period shall amount to

double the rent which would have been payable in

terms of articles 5, 12 or 12A.

(5) Where the tenant meets the income and capital

criteria of the means test the Board shall proceed

according to the following sub-articles.

(6) In establishing the amount of rent payable in

accordance with sub-article (1) the Board shall give

due account to the means and age of the tenant and to

any disproportionate burden particular to the landlord

and it may determine that any increase in rent shall be

gradual. The Board, after briefly hearing the parties

and examining any evidence which it considers

relevant, may also order that an increased amount of

rent be paid whilst the hearing of an application filed in

terms of sub-article (1) is pending.

(7) Where an amount of rent is established in

terms of sub-article (1) that rent shall apply in respect

of the lease of the dwelling house, unless the lease is

previously terminated, for a period of six years, after

which it shall be subject to being revised in accordance

with sub-article (1) unless an agreement is reached

between the parties.

(8) (a) Upon the happening of a material change

in circumstances during the continuance of a lease

established in accordance with article 5, 12 or 12A the

owner shall be entitled to file an application before the

Board demanding that the conditions of the lease be

revised on account of their causing a disproportionate

burden upon him.

(b) The owner may also demand the

dissolution of the lease if he can prove through

unequivocal evidence that the tenant is not a person in

need of the social protection provided by articles 5, 12

or 12A and by this article

Provided that

(i) the provisions of paragraph (a) of this

sub-article shall not apply where the hearing of

an application under sub-article (1) is pending or

has been determined for less than three years;

(ii) the tenant shall always be deemed to

be a person not in need of the social protection

provided by articles 5, 12, 12A and by this article

if the Housing Authority or the landlord offer

alternative accommodation suitable to the tenant

and guarantees the availability of such

accommodation to the tenant for at least ten years

for a rent which is not in excess of that which

would have been payable by the tenant had the

tenant continued the lease under articles 5, 12 or

12A. (9) (a) Any person who has a right to be

recognised as a tenant in terms of the proviso to the

definition "tenant" in article 2 shall, unless the said is a

person referred to in paragraph (a) of the said

definition, only acquire a right to occupy the dwelling

house for a period of five years upon the expiration of

which he shall vacate the said dwelling house. The

compensation for occupation of the dwelling house

payable to the owner during the said period shall,

unless the occupier meets the income and capital

criteria of the means test referred to in paragraph (iii)

of sub-article (3), amount to double the rent which

would have been payable in terms of articles 5, 12 or

12A. (b) Any dispute as to whether the occupier

meets the criteria of the means test may be referred by

either party to the Board by application and the

provisions of sub-article (3) shall apply.

(10) The provisions of article 1555A of the Civil

Code shall apply in respect of any lease which came

into effect by virtue of articles 5, 12, 12A or this

article.

(11) The provisions of this article shall also apply

in all cases where any emphyteusis, sub-emphyteusis

or tenancy in respect of a dwelling house regulated

under articles 5, 12, or 12A has lapsed due to a court

judgment based on the lack of proportionality between

the value of the property and the amount receivable by

the landlord and the person who was the emphyteuta or

the sub-emphyteuta or the tenant still occupies the

house as his ordinary residence on the 10th April 2018.

In such cases it shall not be lawful for the owner to

proceed to request the eviction of the occupier without

first availing himself of the provisions of this article.".

Article 1531J of the Civil Code shall be re-numbered as sub-

5. article (1) thereof and immediately thereafter there shall be added the

following new sub-articles

"(2) The provisions of this sub-article and of the

following sub-articles shall, notwithstanding any other law,

apply in respect of the occupation of premises under title of lease

by a club where all the following conditions are satisfied

(i) where the club consists of a band club which on

the 1st March, 2018 has been in existence for at least thirty

(30) years;

(ii) where the said band club has on the 1st March,

2018 occupied the same premises as its principal quarters

under a title of lease or emphyteusis or under a

combination of both for a period of at least thirty (30)

years;

(iii) where the band club is still in occupation of the

premises and the premises are the only premises of the band

club, except for stores and similar premises or premises

which are small and are not used as a club, on the 1st March,

2018; and

(iv) where the eviction of the band club has been

ordered by a final judgement of the Rent Board or of a

Court for a reason other than the failure to pay rent due.

(3) Where all the conditions listed in sub-article (2) are

satisfied, the club shall be entitled to continue occupying the

premises under a title of lease under the following conditions

(i) for a rent which shall amount to ten (10) times

the amount of rent payable for the occupation of the said

premises prior to the final judgement of the Rent Board or

of the Court ordering eviction;

(ii) the rent referred to in sub-paragraph (i) shall

not be further increased in terms of regulation 2 of the

Conditions Regulating the Leases of Clubs Regulations but S.L. 16.13.

the amount due to the owner in terms of regulation 3 of the

said regulations shall still be due in addition to the rent;

(iii) the rent due in terms of sub-paragraph (i) shall

not be less than five thousand euro (€5,000) per annum or

amount to more than one (1) per cent of the value of the

premises on the 1st January 2018.

(4) The owner of premises to which sub-articles (2) and

(3) apply shall be entitled to apply to the Rent Board to contest

the fulfilment of any condition provided for in sub-article (2) or

to demand a variation in the conditions of the lease in order to

make good for any situation of manifest disproportionality which

may result from the application of sub-articles (2) and (3), due

account being taken of the social and cultural functions

performed by the band club

Provided that in considering whether there exists a situation

of manifest disproportionality the Board shall not base its

considerations on the potential of the premises for development

for commercial use but it shall consider the premises in its actual

state.

(5) In any proceedings which may lead to the eviction

from premises owing to structural alterations made without the

consent of the lessor, when the premises from which the eviction

is demanded consist of the principal quarters of a band club, the

Rent Board or the Court shall not order the eviction from such

premises where the structural alterations consist of works related

to the philharmonic or social activities or to the activities

performed by the band club, and where the works consist of

improvements to the premises or of structural alterations to the

premises and the band club provides a guarantee which in the

opinion of the Rent Board or of the Court is sufficient to allow

the lessor to restore the premises and to make the reparations or

alterations necessary in the premises at the termination of the

lease and to make good for any loss suffered during the

execution of the necessary works

Provided that the amount of the guarantee referred to in this

sub-article shall be established on the basis of the prices current at

the time of the judgement.".

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 137 of the 4th

July, 2018.

ANĠLU FARRUGIA

Speaker

RAYMOND SCICLUNA

Clerk of the House of Representatives

€0.72