Grant on the Restoration and Finishing of Privately Owned Residential Properties

Overview

The Ministry for Finance's Grant on the Restoration and Finishing of Privately Owned Residential Properties reimburses part of the cost of restoring and finishing a qualifying residential property, in support of Sustainable Development Goal 11 and the preservation of Malta's traditional and vernacular architecture. It covers three categories of property: those within an Urban Conservation Area, those built more than twenty years ago and vacant for more than seven, and new builds finished in approved traditional style.

Who This Is For

This is a reimbursement grant for owners, not a route into buying a property itself: it pays back part of what has already been spent on restoration and finishing, once the work is done. It applies to anyone who bought, or is about to buy, a qualifying property, and it is not limited to a single home. An applicant can claim on more than one qualifying property, with the €54,000 cap applying separately to each.

Eligibility

The applicant must be a resident in Malta, eighteen or over, and the officially recognised owner of a privately owned residential property in one of three categories: within an Urban Conservation Area, built more than twenty years ago and vacant for more than seven years, or newly built and finished in line with guidelines the competent authority has approved for traditional and vernacular Maltese architecture. The property must be used by the applicant for residential purposes only, not let out commercially. Only one type of application can be made per property, even where a property could arguably fall under more than one category.

What It Offers

The grant reimburses 18% and/or 10% of eligible restoration and finishing costs, up to an aggregate maximum of €54,000 per property.

Eligible costs cover materials, labour, equipment hire, exterior and interior finishing, plastering and painting, electrics and plumbing, tiles and marble, internal and external doors, windows, bathrooms, and planning permit fees tied to the approved works. Demolition costs are eligible only where the demolition does not exceed half the building's footprint or wall area. Professional fees, covering the architect, specialist consultants, and project management, are capped at 10 percent of the total eligible expenditure claimed. Furniture, movable property, and pools are explicitly excluded.

An applicant can claim on multiple properties, each capped separately at €54,000, but only once per property, and only for expenditure incurred between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2026. A second grant for the same type of restoration and finishing work on the same property is not available within five years of an earlier award under this or a similar government scheme, though a new owner who buys a property after a previous owner already claimed can apply for different, additional works.

Applying

Applications are made only through the official electronic portal, after all the works are finished, since this is a one-time reimbursement claim rather than an upfront grant. Each application must be accompanied by itemised fiscal receipts, or fiscal receipts with itemised invoices, in the applicant's name, each worth at least €200 (smaller expenses need to be grouped into a larger itemised invoice), along with an architect-endorsed assessment form. Properties in an Urban Conservation Area need a Planning Authority certificate confirming that status; the built-more-than-20-years-and-vacant-more-than-7-years category needs ARMS documentation confirming the vacancy period and an architect's certificate of the build date; new properties need a self-assessment form completed jointly by the applicant and a warranted architect confirming the build meets the approved guidelines.

Works must be covered by a valid Planning Authority permit where one is required, and, where applicable, an approved Restoration Method Statement. Work already carried out without a permit can still qualify if it has since been sanctioned and documented, but applications involving a pending PA enforcement case, a pending regularisation application, demolition beyond the 50 percent threshold, or reconstruction in a UCA without enough historic evidence of the original detail and design will not be considered. For up to five years after applying, applicants may be asked to produce the original supporting documents; not producing them means refunding the grant, and a fraudulent application can lead to criminal proceedings.

Applicants who submitted only a first-stage application under the scheme's earlier two-step process before 31 December 2024 can still submit the second and final application to complete their claim.

What Can End the Grant

Dividing a property that has benefited from the grant, so that it is later redeveloped into separate residential units, means refunding the full grant. Beyond that, the scheme's amendment and duration clauses give the Ministry for Finance the right to change or end it by publishing a further notice in the Government Gazette.

Source & Verification

This summary is drawn from the Government Gazette notice amending the Grant on the Restoration and Finishing of Privately Owned Residential Properties (Notice No. 141, Government Gazette No. 21,381, 24 January 2025), which itself amends the original scheme launched under Government Notice No. 1604 (Gazette No. 20,748, 10 December 2021) and a later amendment under Government Notice No. 1806 (Gazette No. 21,366, 24 December 2024). Cross checked clause by clause and last verified on 8 August 2026. The scheme runs from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2026 and may be modified, ended, or renewed by further Government Gazette notice.

• Scheme page: https://www.servizz.gov.mt/en/Pages/Tax-and-Finance/Taxation/Tax/WEB05382/default.aspx
• Government Gazette Notice No. 141 (PDF): https://finance.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Grant_on_the_Restoration_and_Finishing_of_Privately_Owned_Residential_Properties_Jan-2025.pdf

Disclaimer: This information is provided for general awareness only and does not constitute financial or legal advice. Schemes are reviewed and amended periodically, so availability, amounts, deadlines and eligibility criteria may have changed since this page was last verified. Always confirm current details on the official scheme page before applying or making any decision.