The Joint Office that was set up following the 1992 agreement between the government and the Church for the transfer of properties to the State was riddled with complex legal issues. It now seems that some of these issues will be resolved.
The property portfolio of the Church was accumulated over centuries, mainly as a result of people leaving land and buildings to the Church in their wills. As the social context and the role of the Church in Maltese society changed, these properties were transferred to the State.
Their tenants often had temporary rights over the use of their homes, some of which were not even registered with the Lands Authority.
The minister responsible for the Lands Authority, Ian Borg, has now announced details of a scheme that will enable tenants of properties with temporary leases and administered by the Joint Office to apply to turn their lease into permanent ownership against payment of a fee.
The scheme is a positive move that will enable many tenants living in temporarily leased properties formerly owned by the Church to have a permanent ownership title on their homes.
Even if there are payments and other conditions tied to this scheme, it is a good social measure that also contains safeguards against speculation.
Dr Borg confirmed that this scheme would also be extended to include agricultural land. This extension is once again a positive feature that should give peace of mind to farmers who use this land for productive purposes.
Agriculture in Malta is facing severe challenges as local farmers find the completion from imported agricultural products difficult to beat.
The implementation of this scheme, from which thousands of families are expected to benefit, will be challenging as the legal searches on the provenience of title to the properties are bound to be time-consuming. The minister reassured the public that applications will be processed in a “reasonable time”. If this objective is achieved, it would be a vast improvement on the present system in which it can take up to 20 years to conclude an ownership transfer of properties administered by the Lands Authority.
The cost to tenants who apply for permanent ownership under the new scheme needs to be reasonable, meeting the social objectives of the government while ensuring that property rights owned by the State are not under-priced.
The transfer of similar properties used for business purposes will understandably be more complex as the risk of speculation has to be well managed.
The livelihood of various business people could depend on the protection of the tenancy rights they have on the properties they use for their business.
However, it is reasonable to expect that the transfer of full ownership of land used for business purposes is done on a commercial basis.
The property and rental market are going through a tough phase from the perspective of tenants. House prices are at an all-time high and renting property has become a daunting task for those on low or medium incomes.
The introduction of this scheme will not resolve any of the current issues, but it will ease pressure on those who have limited tenancy rights on their homes that were formerly owned by the Church.
Speeding up application processes should be a priority for the Lands Authority.