- A long lease cannot run for less than one year.
- A landlord who wants it to end needs to send a registered letter at least three months before the end date.
- A short let is for six months and for named groups only, and cannot be extended.
Two kinds of lease
The Private Residential Leases Act (Cap. 604) has two kinds of lease for a home: the long lease, which is the normal one, and a narrow short lease. Holiday lets to tourists are outside the Act.
Long leases: at least a year
A long lease cannot be shorter than one year. If the lease says less, the law treats it as a year. Any clause that cuts the minimum is void.
Short lets: six months, for named reasons
A short lease is for six months and only for these tenants:
- non-resident workers on a job of under six months or a specific task,
- non-resident students on a course under six months,
- residents who need a second home for under six months,
- non-residents who will not be seeking to settle long term in Malta.
The lease has to name the category and attach papers that prove it. Without them, or if it runs longer than six months, it is treated as a long lease. A short lease cannot be extended.
How a long lease ends: the landlord
A lease ends when its term ends, but only if the landlord sends a registered letter at least three months before. Without that letter the lease renews by itself for one year, and keeps renewing. A landlord cannot use a notice to end it before its term, apart from the cases the Civil Code itself provides for. The two sides can also sign an express renewal, which cannot change the terms except for the increase the Act allows.
How a long lease ends: the tenant
A tenant cannot withdraw before:
- 6 months, if the lease is under 2 years,
- 9 months, if it is 2 years but under 3,
- 12 months, if it is 3 years or more.
After that, the tenant can leave at any time with a registered letter giving 1, 2 or 3 months’ notice for those same three cases. If a tenant leaves before the periods above, the landlord may keep up to one month’s rent out of the deposit. No penalty can be charged for leaving in line with these rules.
If the landlord sent no end notice but the tenant still wants to go on the end date, the tenant needs to give a registered letter one month before. After a lease has renewed by itself, the tenant cannot leave in the first three months of the renewal, and then needs one month’s notice.
How a short let ends
A tenant cannot withdraw in the first month. After that, the tenant can leave at any time with a registered letter giving one week’s notice, with no penalty.
Practical tips
- Send notice by registered letter and keep the receipt. The Act says proof of posting in time to the right address is enough.
- Put the dates in your calendar. The free rentals tracker on noagent.rent reminds landlords 90 and 30 days before a lease ends.
- If you both agree to end early, put it in writing and tell the Housing Authority; the landlord can then register a new lease on the same home.
Rent is a matter for the two sides: the Act leaves it free, with an increase allowed no more than once a year, and only within the limits it sets.
General information, not legal advice. Sources: Private Residential Leases Act (Cap. 604), articles 2, 3, 8, 9, 9A, 9D, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15.