LoanUp

Overview

LoanUp is a discounted home loan product run jointly by the Foundation for Affordable Housing and APS Bank plc, aimed at people whose income limits their access to Malta's property market. Qualifying applicants get a subsidised interest rate on a standard APS Bank home loan, which lowers monthly repayments and can increase how much they're able to borrow.

Who This Is For

This is aimed at individuals and couples in steady employment whose income and assets sit within set bands, buying a home for their own residence rather than as an investment. It works through a normal APS Bank mortgage, so approval still depends on the bank's own lending criteria on top of the Foundation's income and asset tests; qualifying with the Foundation does not by itself guarantee that the bank will issue the loan. Notably, the published eligibility criteria don't require the applicant to be a first-time buyer, only that combined immovable assets stay under the relevant threshold, though the Foundation's own representative example on its website assumes first-time buyers for illustration.

Eligibility

LoanUp has two eligibility tiers, based on age, income, and whether the applicant or couple has dependents.

High Benefit applies to: a single applicant under 25 with dependents earning up to €25,000; a single applicant aged 25 to 30 with dependents earning up to €28,000; or a couple aged 25 to 30 with dependents. On the couple threshold, the scheme's own published materials are inconsistent: the main eligibility bullet states a joint income cap of €25,000, while the clarifying note immediately below it states €28,000 for couples where both partners are 25 to 30. Both figures come from the same official sources (the Foundation's website and its application form terms), so this is worth confirming directly with the Foundation rather than assuming either number.

Medium Benefit applies to: a single applicant or couple with dependents earning up to €30,000, aged under 30; a couple aged 25 to 30 without dependents earning between €25,000 and €30,000; or a single applicant aged 25 to 30 without dependents earning up to €25,000. The published criteria don't cover a single applicant under 25 without dependents, which reads as a gap in the published eligibility bands rather than a deliberate exclusion, and is also worth checking directly.

Both tiers additionally require the applicant's combined net worth, meaning cash, savings, other movable assets, and investments, to stay under €45,000 for a single applicant or €75,000 for a couple applying jointly, and combined immovable property, residential or commercial, to stay under €50,000. Applicants must hold a steady job with the probation period already completed, and must not hold other income from dividends, shares, or similar sources beyond what's declared in the application. No citizenship or Malta-residency requirement is stated anywhere in the scheme's published materials; the criteria are built entirely around age, income, dependents, and net worth.

What It Offers

High Benefit applicants get a fixed interest rate of 1.95% for the first seven years of the loan, an overall APRC of 1.97%, after which the rate reverts to 0.30% below APS Bank's base rate (currently 2.25%, which under today's pricing works out to the same 1.95%). Medium Benefit applicants get no interest rate subsidy at all, paying a variable rate with an APRC of 2.80% for the life of the loan. The Foundation frames the combined effect of the lower repayments as capable of boosting a qualifying applicant's maximum loan amount by up to 15%, since a lower rate reduces the debt-servicing cost the bank weighs against income.

The Foundation's own worked example illustrates what this can look like: a couple with dependents, the eldest 30, with a joint income of €28,000, qualifying for High Benefit, could be offered a loan of €227,421 against a €252,960 property, with a 10% deposit of €25,269, monthly repayments of €747.54, and total interest of €86,545 over a full 35-year term. That example assumes the bank's base rate never changes, the loan runs its full term with no early repayment, and the facility is drawn down in full, so actual terms for any individual applicant will differ.

Applying

Applications are made by downloading and completing the LoanUp application form and emailing it, with all required documents, to loanup@affordablehousing.mt. The form asks for personal details for up to two applicants, income (salary and other income, individual and combined household), and a full asset breakdown including cash, bank accounts, investments, vehicles, and any property already owned.

Required documents are a copy of the applicant's ID card, a record of employment history, the latest FS3 and the three most recent payslips for each current job, a full year of bank statements including the salary account plus a consolidated balance statement from every bank the applicant holds accounts with, birth certificates for any dependents listed, details of any property already owned, and proof of payment of the €35 processing fee (which excludes the cost of any further verification searches the Foundation needs to make, and must be paid by bank transfer with the applicant's name, surname, and ID number in the payment reference). Processing only begins once the Foundation receives the fee.

Approval runs in three stages. The Foundation first vets the application and, if it's satisfactory and meets its eligibility criteria, issues a preliminary approval letter; this does not itself guarantee anything from the Foundation or the Bank. The Foundation then passes the approved file to APS Bank, which runs its own internal risk assessment and issues the client a loan quotation; applicants who are not already APS Bank customers will need to open a banking relationship at this point. Once transfers, liabilities, and property searches are all confirmed, the Foundation issues a second and final approval, at which point the client and the Bank can proceed to sign the deed of sale.

What Can End the Grant

A fraudulent or knowingly incorrect declaration means the applicant must repay any amount the Foundation has already disbursed, up to the point the issue is discovered. The Foundation can refuse an application, request more information at any point, or change the terms of its approval at its sole discretion, provided it gives reasonable notice. Personal data may be used for automated credit-scoring decisions, and is shared with the bank, tax authorities, credit reference agencies, the Central Bank of Malta's Central Credit Register, and other relevant bodies as needed to process the application; if an application isn't approved, the Foundation says it will delete the applicant's data within two years.

Source & Verification

This summary draws on the Foundation for Affordable Housing's LoanUp page and the LoanUp application form, including its terms and conditions, required documents, and procedure sections. Cross checked clause by clause and last verified on 8 August 2026. Two inconsistencies in the source material are flagged above rather than resolved: the couple income threshold under High Benefit (€25,000 vs. €28,000), and the apparent gap in published eligibility for a single applicant under 25 without dependents.

• Scheme page: https://affordablehousing.mt/loanup/?lang=en
• Application Form (PDF): https://affordablehousing.mt/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/LoanUP-Application-Form-pg-1-combined_2-1.pdf

Disclaimer: This information is provided for general awareness only and does not constitute financial or legal advice. LoanUp is a lending product; actual loan terms, rates and eligibility depend on APS Bank's own credit assessment as well as the Foundation's criteria, and both may change. Always confirm current details directly with the Foundation for Affordable Housing or APS Bank before applying or making any financial decision.