This article is about renting property in Malta. See also the general article on housing in Malta.

Renting an apartment in Malta is fairly cheap compared to the rest of Western Europe. As of 2010 the rental market in Malta is to the favour of the lessee. There are plenty of properties to choose from.

[edit] Using a home letting agent

The most common way of renting a property in Malta is to use a home letting agent.

Let the agent know what kind of property you are searching, in which area and for what price. He/ she will then show you a selection of properties which matches your criteria. The normal way of doing this is that the home letting agent picks you up in his/ her car from your current location, takes you around to see the apartments and then takes you back to where you came from again.

It is normal to use more than one home letting agent at the same time while searching for a property.

In case you use more than one agent when searching for a property, you will only have to pay the one that finds you the property that you choose to move into.

When you have signed the contract for the property/ apartment, the job of the home letting agent is done. For all further issues you should talk directly to the owner of the property.

[edit] Paying the home letting agent

The home letting agent expects 1/2 of one month's rent from both the owner and the tenant - in total the home letting agent is payed the value of one month of rent of the property.

If the home letting agent declares the sum for tax purposes, you will have to pay an additional 18 % in VAT (Value Added Tax) to the agent. You should recieve a VAT reciept for this.

[edit] Renting directly from the owner

The biggest advantage of renting directly from the owner is that neither of the parties will have to pay commision to a home letting company. This will ideally save both parties 1/2 month or rent. Finding owners to rent properties from is most commonly a matter of word of mouth.

[edit] Payment of  the rent

Most commonly the owner does not declare the income derived from the property for tax purposes. This means that the lessee will have to pay the lessor directly with cash handovers once a month.

If the owner declares the income from the property for tax purposes, you will in most cases be able to pay the rent via a bank transfer. You should recieve a VAT reciept for this.