REGULARISATION OF TITLES OF ORDINARY RESIDENCES BUILT ON GOVERNMENT LAND GRANTED BY TEMPORARY EMPHYTEUSIS FOR

GOVERNMENT LAND GRANTED BY

TEMPORARY EMPHYTEUSIS FOR

AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES REGULATIONS

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 573.12

REGULARISATION OF TITLES OF ORDINARY

RESIDENCES BUILT ON GOVERNMENT LAND

GRANTED BY TEMPORARY EMPHYTEUSIS FOR

AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES REGULATIONS

25th February, 2022

LEGAL NOTICE 95 of 2022, as amended by Legal Notice 161 of

2026.

The title of these regulations is the Regularisation of

Titles of Ordinary Residences Built on Government Land Granted by

Temporary Emphyteusis for Agricultural Purposes Regulations.

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise

requires

"applicant" means a person submitting a request under these

regulations to convert the title from temporary to perpetual

emphyteusis over his sole and ordinary residence and which is built on

Government land granted with a temporary emphyteusis for

agricultural purposes. The applicant must be the person occupying the

premises as his sole and ordinary residence;

"Authority" means the Lands Authority established in

accordance with article 5 of the Lands Authority Act or any person or

any other entity that has been entrusted by contract or by law to

administer Government land;

"commercial premises" shall have the same meaning assigned to

it in the Civil Code;

"garage" means a premises used to house only one or more

vehicles but does not include premises and, or garages used as a

warehouse or used for any commercial purpose;

"premises" means any building utilised as the sole and ordinary

residence of the applicant;

"sole and ordinary residence" means a premises used by a

person as his sole and ordinary residence and includes garages or

spaces adjacent to the premises, provided that these adjacent spaces

are used as an extension of the property for the purposes of the

Development Planning (Health and Sanitary) Regulations or further

spaces adjacent to the premises, and that they form an integral part of

the same premises

Provided that guest houses or dormitories shall not be

considered as residences for the purpose of these regulations

GOVERNMENT LAND GRANTED BY

TEMPORARY EMPHYTEUSIS FOR

AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES REGULATIONS

Provided further that premises in Malta occupied by

residents from Gozo and Comino due to employment or education in

Malta shall be regulated by these regulations

Provided further that premises in Gozo and Comino

occupied by residents from Malta due to employment or education in

Gozo and Comino shall be regulated by these regulations

Provided further that any premises or part of a premises

used as a residence shall be suitable for habitation;

"temporary emphyteusis for agricultural purposes" shall mean an

emphyteutical concession with an expiry date, wherein there is

specified that the land shall be used for agricultural purposes or that the

land shall be used partly for agricultural purposes and partly for

residential purposes.

(1)

Any person occupying premises built on

Government land and which have been granted on temporary

emphyteusis for agricultural purposes and which premises are being

used as the sole and ordinary residence of the occupant, may request

the Authority to convert that part of the premises occupied by him

under temporary emphyteusis into perpetual emphyteusis, in

accordance with the conditions established in these regulations.

(2)

Any emphyteutical concession which was granted before

the date of coming into force of these regulations and has expired shall

be deemed to be tacitly renewed and the conditions established in such

concession shall remain applicable.

(3)

The applicant shall submit an application for recognition

of his obligations as an emphyteuta with the application under these

regulations.

(4)

The applicant shall provide all documentation requested

by the Authority in order to prove that

(a)

the occupied premises are used as the sole and

ordinary residence of the applicant;

(b)

the premises has all the necessary development

permits from the competent authorities

Provided that if the premises were built before the year

1968, the applicant shall submit a declaration provided by the

Planning Authority that the said premises appears on the survey

sheet of the year 1968;

(c)

the premises are shown as premises built in the

GOVERNMENT LAND GRANTED BY

TEMPORARY EMPHYTEUSIS FOR

AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES REGULATIONS

aerial photos of 2018.

(1)

Any application submitted to the Authority in

accordance with these regulations shall be deemed valid after all the

requirements listed in the application form have been met, including

the payment fee of five hundred euro (€500) upon submission of the

same application.

(2)

The Authority shall have the right to request any other

information or documentation it deems necessary to process the

application.

(3)

The Authority shall have the right to suspend and where

it deems necessary, refuse any application submitted in accordance

with these regulations where it results that there is any legal challenge

regarding the land to which the application relates.

The transfer of title granted by the Authority in

accordance with these regulations may be effected by means of a

perpetual emphyteutical concession, which shall be revisable every

fifteen (15) years from the date of publication of the deed at the rate of

fifteen per cent (15%). The emphyteuta shall have the option to

redeem the ground rent after fifteen (15) years from the date of the

emphyteutical grant and thereafter always in the year in which the

ground rent is revised. Such redemption shall be effected by the

payment of a sum equivalent to the amount of the groundrent, as

revised and capitalised at the rate of five per cent (5%)

Provided that if the emphyteuta decides to redeem the

ground rent prior to the first revision specifically during the first

fifteen (15) years from the date of the emphyteutical grant, in such

case the redemption shall be effected after the ground rent is revised in

accordance with the rates indicated in Schedule II and upon payment

of a sum equivalent to the amount of the ground rent, as revised and

capitalised at the rates indicated in Schedule II

Provided further that all conditions of the original

temporary emphyteusis which are not applicable to a perpetual

emphyteusis shall cease to have effect.

(1)

The applicable rates for applications submitted in

accordance with these regulations are those established in Schedule I

and Schedule II.

(2)

In order to determine the annual ground rent due to the

Authority, the calculation shall first be made in accordance with the

rates established in Schedule I and the resulting calculation shall be

used for the computation in accordance with Schedule II.

(3)

In cases where multi-level occupation already exists

GOVERNMENT LAND GRANTED BY

TEMPORARY EMPHYTEUSIS FOR

AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES REGULATIONS

which are pro diviso, the Authority shall transfer each level by means

of a separate title after determining the overall value of the land

occupied in accordance with Schedule I, and after carrying out an

appropriate and proportionate apportionment exercise of the value in

accordance with the titles claimed for each respective level.

(4)

In case the occupation of the land is pro indiviso, as in the

common parts of the condomium, the Authority shall transfer the land

pro indiviso and the resulting costs shall be apportioned between the

respective levels in accordance with the title claimed by the applicants

for each level.

(1)

In addition to the application submitted to the

Authority in terms of these regulations, the applicant shall provide a

declaration signed by him confirming that all the contents of the

application submitted are correct and that no other relevant facts,

information or documentation have been omitted which, had they been

known to the Authority, would have led to the refusal of the

application.

(2)

No justification shall be made by the applicant for any

failure to provide facts, information, or other documentation relevant to

the application on the basis that the Authority already had knowledge

of such facts, information or documentation.

(1)

Applications submitted in accordance with these

regulations shall be refused if the premises

(a)

does not have the necessary permits issued by the

Planning Authority or the declaration provided by the Planning

Authority that the said premises appear on the 1968 survey

sheet; or

(b)

has stop notices or enforcement notices or stop and

enforcement notices or warning notices issued by the competent

Authority

Provided that if the premises has any one of these

impediments, they shall be remedied before the application may

be processed under these regulations.

(2)

The part of the temporary emphyteusis for agricultural

purposes which does not form part of the sole and ordinary residence as

defined in these regulations shall be excluded from the transfer and

shall retain the title of temporary emphyteusis under the original

conditions.

(3)

Any commercial premises or any land used for

commercial or storage purposes, as well as any other land not forming

GOVERNMENT LAND GRANTED BY

TEMPORARY EMPHYTEUSIS FOR

AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES REGULATIONS

part of the sole and ordinary residence as defined in these regulations.

(4)

The application does not confer any rights or

entitlements in favour of the applicant or any other person and the

Authority, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to refuse any

application submitted pursuant to these regulations

Provided that every refusal shall be in writing and shall

include detailed reasons on which such decision is based upon.

(5)

The Authority shall have the right to terminate the

process of an application made by virtue of these regulations at any

stage or to refuse to accept any application made by virtue of these

regulations if in its opinion such property is located at a site of national

importance

Provided that in that case, the applicant shall only be

entitled to receive the costs he paid to apply pursuant to these

regulations. The Authority shall be exempt from any damages or any

request for the payment of any kind of compensation made by the

applicant in this regard.

Any conversion and eventual redemption of the

emphyteusis made by virtue of these regulations shall be made through

a public contract.

The Authority has the right to bring an action before the

Civil Court, First Hall if it is of the opinion that there has been a

breach of any of the provisions of these regulations, even after the

corresponding contract has been signed, against any person involved

and to ask the court to declare the redemption null and void even if the

property has been transferred to third parties

Provided that no person against whom the Authority

brings an action shall have the right to request or to receive any

damages of any kind or any sort of compensation for all the

improvements they have made or could have made to that building.

An applicant shall have a right of appeal from a decision

of the Authority taken under these regulations in terms of article 57 of

the Lands Authority Act.

Schedule I

Applicable rates per square metre for each type of land

GOVERNMENT LAND GRANTED BY

TEMPORARY EMPHYTEUSIS FOR

AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES REGULATIONS

according to these regulations

Rate payable per metre square

Type of land

of occupied land

€/m 2

All land occupied by a sole and

ordinary residence, except for land

occupied by detached or semi-

detached residences, including

farmhouses.

All land occupied by detached or

semi-detached dwellings including

farmhouses.

Any space adjacent to the premises

used as an extension of the

premises for the purpose of

sanitary laws.

Any further space adjacent to the

premises, provided it forms an

integral part of the same premises

according to the definition under

these regulations.

Schedule II

Computation of the ground rent applicable to perpetual emphyteutical

concessions according to these regulations

1. The amount resulting from the calculations according to

Schedule I, shall be divided by 35 after taking into account the

provisions of regulation 6, and the resulting amount shall be the annual

groundrent due to the Lands Authority.

2. The emphyteutical concession commences to run from

the day that the contract is signed and the groundrent due has to be paid

annually in advance.

3. The redemption of ground rent and the purchase of the

direct dominium shall be made at the rates established below

Amount of

Revision

years of

Percentage

groundrent

Rate

Percentage rate (%) capitalisation

paid

for redemption of ground rent

GOVERNMENT LAND GRANTED BY

TEMPORARY EMPHYTEUSIS FOR

AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES REGULATIONS

0 (immediate

0%

redemption)

2.857 (multiplied by 35)

1%

2.941 (multiplied by 34)

2%

3.030 (multiplied by 33)

3%

3.125 (multiplied by 32)

4%

3.226 (multiplied by 31)

5%

3.333 (multiplied by 30)

6%

3.448 (multiplied by 29)

7%

3.571 (multiplied by 28)

8%

3.704 (multiplied by 27)

9%

3.846 (multiplied by 26)

10%

4.000 (multiplied by 25)

11%

4.167 (multiplied by 24)

12%

4.348 (multiplied by 23)

13%

4.545 (multiplied by 22)

14%

4.762 (multiplied by 21)

15%

5.000 (multiplied by 20)