Budget 2026: First-time buyers scheme to become law
Rather than a temporary measure, the scheme will become a permanent law
The first-time buyers scheme will be entrenched into law, making it a permanent fixture rather than a temporary measure, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana announced during his budget speech on Monday evening.
The scheme was first introduced in 2013 as a way to help young people step onto the property ladder.
The measure has continued be expanded over much of the following decade, with a new scheme launched in 2023 seeing first-time buyers receive a cash grant of €1,000 each year for a decade.
Over 7,000 people have benefited from the scheme so far, Caruana said, adding that it will once again renewed next year.
However, the scheme will soon become part of Malta’s laws, Caruana added, so the measure “will continue to apply on a permanent basis”.
A new change to the measure will allow people who have previously bought a property that was not a residence, such as a garage or a commercial property, to also apply for the scheme.
The budget also extended other measures aimed at helping people buy their first homes.
An equity sharing scheme, through which the Housing Authority helps fund a home purchase through an interest-free loan will now be offered to people over the age of 25, rather than 30 as was previously the case.
Meanwhile, people inheriting a home in which they already live will now pay a 3.5% inheritance tax on the first €400,000 value of the property, up from the previous €200,000.