Growing up in Malta in the 1990s and early 2000s was a gift from the gods. It was the dawn of a new era. If any one of us knew what was about to happen, many would have done everything possible to grab a piece of land, be it a field, house, apartment, or even a garage. None of us could have anticipated what was to come.
Fast forward a few years, Malta joined the EU. Internet start-ups started to change the world. Long gone were the days of my parents waiting for TVM news to finish to see the weather forecast. Opportunity was everywhere and there was no pause.
In 2009, the world was coming out of the Lehman Brothers crash. The EU was pushing economic stability and growth. For the first time in history, we saw low-cost airlines. We began to travel much, much more. By 2010, going on holiday was not a once-a-year family treat. It became a “let’s go to London to watch a match” or “Ayia Napa for a party”.
Enter the start-up Facebook. People got connected on a level they had never experienced before. Networking and social media connected the world. People could now share their experiences, look for new ones and see everyone’s. People wanted more.
Enter the hashtag. #Sunrise #HolidayOnTheMed #Sunset #Malta. Marketing had a rebirth. It was all about to skyrocket.
The beauty of our blue sea, our majestic old towns and our charm brought more and more people here every single year. Many decided to stay, drawn by the attractive tax rates, great healthcare, democratic government and the fact that we are one of only two EU countries graced with English as a second mother tongue. Many companies decided to bring their employees here.
By 2018, Malta’s expat community had gone from under five per cent of the population to over 25 per cent. And guess what? While all this was happening, another start-up was on the rise: Airbnb. With Malta’s culture of “investing in stone”, everyone who had a few extra bucks was investing in property. The market began to thrive.
By now, Malta’s planning policies were long out of date. Luckily enough, this brave new world did not just boost the elite one per cent. Many people benefitted from selling their houses way over market value, as now it was being sold as a site. This put a lot of money in a lot of pockets and nurtured a wealth spread among the middle class.
The feel-good factor was very much alive. An appetite for investment was fostered. We got new restaurants, new concepts and more start-ups. EU funds helped restore many of Malta’s icons. More and more people kept coming.
Then, it started to have adverse effects on the country – an overpopulation problem we never experienced or expected. Our EU counterparts have been dealing with overpopulation problems since the days of Caesar but this was a first for Malta.
The only solution was to keep building: more developments, more storeys. High-rises, talked about in the 1990s but then shelved, returned and, this time, there was no stopping them.
Since Malta was so underdeveloped, the rampant construction happening in a short period of time made the sense of overdevelopment acutely felt. And rightly so. Who likes closed roads, dust and noise?
Unfortunately, it was a case of demand and supply that required planning many years ago. Now we’re here, in 2025. While the rest of the EU struggles with overpopulation, housing crises and homelessness, Malta prevails. My fear, though, is that’s it’s not for much longer.
We need to have two visions that are acted upon today. Not discussed today but implemented today, as it will take another two years to plan this and another three to build it. By 2030, the problems faced by many major cities in the EU will have hit us.
A big one is housing affordability, which will fast become a crisis for those in lower income brackets. We need a short-term fix for that.
One such solution could be a public-private partnership, with leased government land used to build medium-rise, affordable housing. Half the building could have its rent capped, with the other half uncapped, to reduce the risk of creating a slum and encourage investment. Another good short-term recommendation by the Malta Developers’ Association to the government was to buy private plots in residential areas to create more open spaces and parks with trees.
For the longer term, we need to focus on attracting more affluent tourists and expats, tourists who are willing to pay extra to visit Malta’s gems before or after opening hours, who want more sports events, marine events and high-end brands, from hotels to restaurants and clubs. We need to offer tax incentives and, if needs be, open the doors of more of the iconic buildings we’ve let go. There are so many prime real estate spots that have been left abandoned for decades upon decades.
We don’t need more shopping malls; we need more culture, more experiences and more joy. We need to also adopt a rooftop culture. All major cities have another life on their rooftops. Malta, with much less available space, has left its rooftops bare.
Lastly, Malta needs to cap its expat population. We are the smallest island in the European Union. We cannot possibly keep growing at this rate. The worse the situation becomes in their major cities, the more people will want to come here, even if it’s getting worse. The more opportunity and fun there is in Malta, the more people from quiet villages who want to experience a ‘city life’ will come to Malta.
What happens if, tomorrow, 0.1 per cent of the EU’s population decides to come and live in Malta? Being an EU member state, under today’s law, we cannot stop it. We need to negotiate an expat population cap with the EU, otherwise we will ruin what’s left of Malta once and for all. Just like we lost those laid-back days from the 1990s and early 2000s we stand to lose it all if we sit back, complain and justify the flow.
I’ve researched all EU housing markets. I’ve operated offices in Cyprus, Spain and Portugal. By 2040, Malta’s population will exceed one million people. We need to act now.
Steve Mercieca is co-founder and CEO of QuickLets and Zanzi Homes.