DEVELOPED LAND (VALUATION) ORDINANCE (valuation)

DEVELOPED LAND (VALUATION)

CHAPTER 110

DEVELOPED LAND (VALUATION) ORDINANCE

To make provision for the valuation of developed lands in Malta.

20th June, 1941

ORDINANCE VIII of 1941, as amended by Ordinance VI of 1943; Legal

Notice 4 of 1963; Acts: XXXI of 1966 and LVIII of 1974: Legal Notice 148

of 1975; Acts: XXII of 1976, VIII of 1990, XXIV of 1995 and VI of 2001;

and Legal Notice 409 of 2007.

The short title of this Ordinance is the Developed Land

(Valuation) Ordinance.

In this Ordinance and in any rules made under this

Ordinance, unless the subject or context otherwise requires-

"annual value" means, subject to the provisions of articles 3 and

(a) unless the developed tenement was on the 31st March,

1939, let furnished, the gross annual rent at which it

was let on the 31st March, 1939, or, if it was not, on

that day, let or let separately or in existence, then the

gross annual rent for which it might on that day

reasonably be expected to have been let unfurnished,

from year to year, having regard to the purposes for

which it was then being used or occupied or would,

disregarding, at the date of assessment, intervening

damage, if any, arising from enemy or counter-enemy

action, and ordinary wear and tear and any works in

connection with an air raid shelter or for temporary

purposes arising out of the war, have been suitable,

less in every case, whether falling for treatment under

any part of this definition or under article 3 and 4, the

yearly amount of any pious burden (other than tithes)

affecting the developed tenement and a deduction of

ten per centum;

(b) if the developed tenement was on 3lst March, 1939, let

furnished but had been let unfurnished at any time

during the five years preceding that date, the last gross

annual rent at which the developed tenement was let

unfurnished;

(c) if the developed tenement was on the 3lst March.

1939, let furnished and had not been let unfurnished at

any time during the five years preceding that date, a

sum computed at three and one half per centum on its

capital value as determined in connection with the last

conveyance by way of onerous title, or in connection

with the last partition or judicial valuation executed or

made in respect of that developed tenement during the

five years preceding the 31st March, 1939, or, in

default of any change of ownership thus affected

DEVELOPED LAND (VALUATION)

within the period stated, on its capital value as at the

31st March, 1939, as mutually agreed upon, or, in

default of agreement, to be appraised or determined by

the Board of Special Commissioners for Land

Valuation;

"date of assessment" means the 20th June, 1941, or, in the case

only of developed tenements which were unfinished or not in

existence on that day, the day of completion of such development

tenements;

"developed tenement" means a tenement which consists or, apart

from damage, if any, from enemy or counter-enemy action, would,

at the date of assessment still consist of a building or part of a

building for whatever purpose it was built and includes any land

(including any subsidiary building) which might be expected

ordinarily to be or to have been occupied with the first mentioned

building or part of a building and includes the domestic garden of

such first mentioned building or part of a building but does not

include any plant and machinery, if any, therein or any open park or

waste or agricultural land, if any, included in the tenement of which

such developed tenement (then referred to herein as a "developed

tenement within a larger tenement") forms a part;

"Land Valuation Officer" means the officer appointed by the

Prime Minister as Land Valuation Officer for the purposes of this

Ordinance;

"lease" does not include emphyteusis but includes occupation in

virtue of a requisition order;

"owner" means the person who on a given date receives, or

would immediately be entitled to let and to receive the rental on

lease of a tenement, and the tutor, curator, administrator, procurator

or other representative of any such owner, or when such owner

cannot readily be traced, such person as shall, without further

evidence, be appointed on the application of the Land Valuation

Officer by the Civil Court, Second Hall, and includes also, from the

date of transfer, any person to whom the interest of the owner has

been transferred between the date of assessment and the

ascertainment of the assessed annual value of a tenement

Provided that in the case of a developed tenement held in

common and in respect of which it is not to the knowledge of the

Land Valuation Officer that there is a common administrator, the

owner shall be deemed to be the common administrator whom the

co-owners, within ten days from the date when the Land Valuation

Officer shall require them to do so, shall advise that officer that

they have appointed, or, in default of such advice, the co-owner or

a third party either of whom the Land Valuation Officer at his

discretion shall appoint to be the common administrator (who shall

be entitled to let the developed tenement and receive the rent

thereof and otherwise to administer the property as if he were an

administrator duly appointed by a competent court to administer

immovable property) on such further conditions as may seem

equitable to him in his discretion, including the right to retain out

of the gross income of the developed tenement administered a

DEVELOPED LAND (VALUATION)

commission not exceeding four per centum of that income in the

case of a co-owner and not exceeding five per centum in the case of

a third party;

"prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this

Ordinance;

"tenement" means, subject to its special application in the case of

a developed tenement within a larger tenement, any land owned as

a homogenous unit, but does not include-

(a) tenements or parts of tenements used as mortuary

chapels or used solely as churches, chapels or places

of public worship, or

(b) tenements the whole legal interest in which, other than

any lease, is vested in the Government of Malta;

(c) tool-rooms, watch-rooms or other isolated huts or

small buildings, in fields, which are not intended to be

used habitually as a permanent dwelling place, and are

not such as to be reasonably suitable for letting

independently of the field on which they stand.

When, in the opinion of the Land Valuation Officer, the

gross annual rent of any developed tenement, as ascertained by

reference to an actual letting under the definition of "annual value"

in article 2, is too low, the Land Valuation Officer may by notice

order the assessment of the annual gross rental of such tenement at

three and one-half per centum of the value of such tenement as at

the 3lst March, 1939, such value to be mutually agreed upon, or, in

default of agreement, to be appraised or determined by the Board of

Special Commissioners for Land Valuation.

The annual gross rent of a developed tenement within a

larger tenement shall be deemed to be the annual gross rent at

which it might have been expected to let from year to year

unfurnished, with the free option to rent, at ordinary market rates,

any open park or waste or agricultural land which in fact forms part

of that larger tenement.

(1) The owner on the date of assessment of each developed

tenement in Malta, shall, within forty days after such date, or

within such further period as may be allowed in writing by the

Land Valuation Officer in any particular case, deliver to the Land

Valuation Officer full and true particulars of such tenement on and

in accordance with the prescribed form, and with such

accompanying evidence as may be prescribed.

(2) Every co-owner on the date of assessment shall within

fifteen days notify in writing the Land Valuation Officer of the

developed tenement or developed tenements in which he has a joint

interest, and whether or not there is a common administrator in

respect of that developed tenement or those developed tenements.

Where the Land Valuation Officer does not, within four

months after the expiry of the term, original or prolonged,

mentioned in article 5(1), give notice to the owner that he does not

accept the annual value put forward by the owner therein, then such

DEVELOPED LAND (VALUATION)

annual value so put forward shall be the assessed annual value of

the developed tenement to which it relates.

When the Land Valuation Officer gives notice that he does

not, or will or may not under article 3, accept the annual value put

forward or required under article 5, and no agreement is reached

between him and the owner on such figure within one month, or

such further period as may be allowed in writing by the Land

Valuation Officer in any particular case, after delivery of such

notice, then the Land Valuation Officer shall by application refer

the assessment, giving particulars of the figures in dispute, for final

d e c i s i o n b y t h e B o a r d of S p e c i a l C o m m i s s i o n e r s f o r L a n d

Valuation. The Land Valuation Officer may similarly make

application for a decision where for any other reason no agreement

has been reached

Provided that where an owner has failed to make a return,

the Land Valuation Officer may proceed to assess his developed

tenement after thirty days from the last day on which such return

was due, and such assessment shall only be appealable to and by

the special leave of the Board of Special Commissioners for Land

Valuation, on such terms as such Board shall deem just.

(1) The owner of any developed tenement in respect of

which a return has been delivered in accordance with the provisions

of article 5 shall, before commencing thereafter to make any

structural alteration of or addition to such developed tenement or to

effect any renovation, deliver to the Land Valuation Officer full and

true particulars of the proposed works on and in accordance with

the prescribed form.

(2) Within ten days after the completion of the works of which

a return has been delivered as aforesaid, or when, for any reason,

the owner has not proceeded with the whole of such works, within

ten days after the completion of such works as have in fact been

carried out, the owner of such developed tenement shall deliver to

the Land Valuation Officer full and true particulars of such works

on and in accordance with the prescribed form.

(3) Whenever the Land Valuation Officer has reasonable

grounds for belief that as the result of any structural alteration of or

addition to any developed tenement the annual value of such

developed tenement has been increased he shall proceed to re-

assess such developed tenement and shall give the owner thereof

written notice of the re-assessed annual value of the developed

tenement together with reasonable details as to how that figure has

been calculated.

(4) If the owner of such developed tenement does not accept

the re-assessed annual value and no agreement is reached between

him and the Land Valuation Officer within two weeks after the

receipt of such notice or such further period as may be allowed in

writing by the Land Valuation Officer in any particular case, then

the Land Valuation Officer shall by application refer the re-

assessment for final decision by the Board of Special

Commissioners appointed by this Ordinance.

DEVELOPED LAND (VALUATION)

(1) The President of Malta may appoint one or more

Boards of Special Commissioners for Land Valuation, each board

consisting of three members of whom one, who shall be a retired

judge or a retired magistrate or a person who has practised as an

advocate in Malta for a period or periods amounting, in the

aggregate, to seven years, shall be chairman. Before entering upon

their duties the chairman and members shall take and subscribe an

oath, before the Attorney General, to exercise their functions under

this Act with impartiality and in accordance with the law.

(2) There shall be no appeal from the decision of a Board of

Special Commissioners for Land Valuation.

(3) Proceedings of such Board shall be summary and may on

the application of the owner be held in camera, and no record of the

evidence need be kept.

(4) Witnesses may be called either by the Land Valuation

Officer or by the owner at the hearing, and no adjournment shall be

granted save for grave cause in prejudice of justice.

(5) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this article, the

ordinary rules of civil procedure shall be followed so far as is

compatible with summary proceedings. The determination shall be

deposited with the Registrar of Courts and shall not be accessible to

the general public without the consent in writing of the owner

concerned. The costs of the proceedings shall be summarily taxed

by the Board, and shall be paid by the Government or by the owner

according as the annual value ascertained shall not or shall exceed

by one-fiftieth the value put forward by the owner.

(6) The Board shall have all the powers conferred by the Code

of Organization and Civil Procedure upon the Civil Court, First

Hall.

Any warrant or order issued by the Board shall be signed by

the Chairman thereof and certified by the registrar.

The Registry of the Courts in Malta, or, as the case may be,

the Registry of the Courts of Magistrates (Gozo) shall be the

registry of the Board.

The Prime Minister may from time to time appoint such a

number as he deems necessary of Assistant Land Valuation

Officers.

(1) Every notice or order given by the Land Valuation

Officer under this Ordinance or any rule thereunder shall be signed

by the Land Valuation Officer or by an Assistant Land Valuation

Officer, and every such notice shall be valid if such signature is

duly printed or written thereon, provided that any notice requiring

the personal attendance of any person before the Land Valuation

Officer shall be signed by the latter personally.

(2) Any such signature to a notice or order shall be taken as the

signature of that person unless the contrary be shown.

(1) Notice may be served on a person either personally or

by being sent through registered post to his last known business or

DEVELOPED LAND (VALUATION)

private address, and shall, in the latter case, be deemed to have

been received in the ordinary course of post, and in proving such

service it shall be sufficient to prove that the letter containing the

notice was properly addressed and posted.

(2) If a person on whom a notice will be served cannot be

found, or if his address is not known, a notice posted upon the

tenement to which the notice refers and also at the nearest Police

station thereto shall be deemed to be sufficient notice upon such

person.

(3) Where the name of any such person is not known, it shall be

sufficient to designate him in any notice as the "owner" of the

tenement without further description.

(4) Notice may also be given to any specified person or to any

specified class of persons by notice published in the Government

Gazette.

(5) Notice served on any one co-owner, shall be deemed to

have been served on all his fellow co-owners.

The Land Valuation Officer may by notice call on any

person whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be the owner or

the tenant of a developed tenement to attend before him during

office hours to give any particulars required regarding such

tenement, and to produce any books or other documents relating to

it which are in such person’s possession or under his control, and it

shall be the duty of such person to attend, to give true particulars

and to produce such books or other documents accordingly.

The Land Valuation Officer, any Assistant Land Valuation

Officer and any person authorized in writing in that behalf by either

of them, may, on reasonable notice, enter any tenement within

reasonable hours of daylight for the purpose of inspection and

taking particulars of such tenement. In case of unreasonable refusal

of entry, the assistance of a Police officer not below the rank of

sub-inspector may be availed of to enforce entry, which however

will not excuse the occupier from any penalty to which he may

have rendered himself liable.

Any owner or any person who fails to comply with any

obligation placed upon him by this Ordinance or by any rule

t h e r e u n d e r s h a l l b e l i a b l e on c o n v i c t i o n b e f o r e a C o u r t o f

Magistrates to a fine of not less than twenty-three euro and twenty-

nine cents (23.29) or more than one hundred and sixteen euro and

forty-seven cents (116.47)

Provided that if the offence was knowingly giving any

material false return or particulars, the fine shall not be less than

one hundred and sixteen euro and forty-seven cents (116.47) or

more than two hundred and thirty-two euro and ninety-four cents

(232.94).

(1) The Minister responsible for justice may make rules

for the further and better carrying out, subject to the provisions of

this Ordinance, of all or any of the provisions thereof.

DEVELOPED LAND (VALUATION)

(2) All rules made under this Ordinance shall be laid before the

House of Representatives as soon as may be after they are made,

and, if a resolution is passed within the next subsequent seven days

on which the House has sat next after such rule is laid before it that

the rule be annulled, it shall thenceforth be void, but without

prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder, or

to the making of any new rule.