Housing: one in five is a tenant, but few locals pay commercial rental prices

Only a small percentage of Maltese rent from the open market and are therefore susceptible to increasing rental prices, according to Central Bank of Malta data.

However, this situation would change if the pre-1995 controlled rent agreements were ever thrown out.

The burgeoning rental market and its impact on the Maltese has been the topic of many articles. But insight provided by the bank’s chief economist, Aaron Grech, shows a much more nuanced situation, with some trends, such as tourism, playing an as-yet underestimated role.

Dr Grech used statistical data to break down this important sector, isolating those who rent under the pre-1995 controlled rents, those Maltese who rent from the market at commercial rents, the impact on foreign workers and the demand driven by tourists seeking private accommodation.

Many protected by controlled rents

Surveys by the National Statistics Office show that a fifth of the Maltese rent and the rest are home owners.

However, of those, the great majority rent under the old regime, with only three to four per cent of the 200,000 or so households in Malta subject to commercial rents.

The NSO also checks how much people spend on housing (including...