Registering your lease with the Housing Authority, step by step

Why registration matters

Under the Private Residential Leases Act (Cap. 604), every private residential lease, including its renewals, must be registered with the Housing Authority. The Act says a lease that is not registered is null and void.

Registration also opens doors. The Housing Authority’s dispute panel only hears claims about registered leases, and the lease is the proof of address that other offices ask for.

Who has to do it

The landlord. The duty starts the day the lease starts, and the deadline is 30 days from the start of the lease. Registration works backwards: once done, it counts from the date the lease began.

If the landlord does not register, the tenant may register the lease and the Act says the cost falls on the landlord. The tenant may keep back part of the rent to cover the Housing Authority’s fee.

Ask early. Before you sign, ask who registers and by when. Ask for the registration reference once it is done.

What to have ready

• The signed written lease. You can use the Housing Authority’s model contract, or attach its standard form to your own.
• The inventory: a signed list, or photographs with short descriptions, of the home and of any furniture and appliances. It is needed even if the home is let empty.
• The landlord’s self-declaration, which the portal asks you to upload.
• Names and details of the landlord and every tenant. The portal asks how many people will live in the home, and the registration cannot go over the permitted number.

If someone signs on a party’s behalf, a power of attorney is also needed.

The steps on the portal

1. Create an account on rentregistration.mt, or sign in with your e-ID, then confirm your e-mail address.
2. Create a profile as an individual or a company.
3. Choose Contract Registration and pick the property from the address list.
4. Upload the self-declaration, then fill in the tenancy details and upload the signed lease and inventory.
5. Add the landlord or landlords, then the tenant or tenants.
6. Tick the terms, submit and pay the fee.

The Act says registration is done online only. The Housing Authority says checking can take up to 10 working days. If something is missing, the application shows up under Require Feedback so you can correct it and send it again.

What it costs

The portal lists a registration fee of €10, a late fee of €120 for leases registered after the 30 days, and €5 to register a renewal. Leases that state they renew automatically each year need no fee for the renewal. Fees can change, so check the portal before you pay.

Renewals, changes and endings

• Renewal: a renewal has to be registered too. If the lease renews by itself each year, the portal shows no fee for it.
• Termination: the landlord ends the registration on the portal and uploads the notice that was sent to the tenant.
• A tenant leaves or is replaced: the Act has rules for substituting or adding a tenant, with the consent of the landlord and the tenants involved, without starting a new lease.

If it has not been done

The Housing Authority can serve a written notice and ask for an administrative penalty of up to €2,329.37. Letting without a valid registered lease can also be taken to court, with a fine of €2,500 to €10,000. A landlord cannot use their own failure to register against the tenant.

Need help with the portal? The Housing Authority’s rent registration desk takes appointments on 2299 1010.

General information, not legal advice. Sources: Private Residential Leases Act (Cap. 604), articles 4, 6, 20 and 22; rentregistration.mt.