The Malta Developers' Association has urged the government to extend the first time buyers' scheme and increase its threshold to €200,000. 

Currently, under this scheme, buyers purchasing their first property do not have to pay stamp duty on the first €175,000 of the price of the property.

The proposal was made during a meeting between the MDA council and the cabinet on Friday. 

The association put forward 15 proposals ahead of the upcoming 2021 budget, which it said would boost economic recovery during the pandemic. 

The MDA also proposed extending and fine tuning the recent lowering of the capital gains and stamp duty tax to the benefit of both buyer and seller.

It also suggested the introduction of grants for all families on the costs incurred for the renovation of facades, internal improvements, upgrading of roof gardens and installation of green roofs.

Introducing the proposals, MDA president Sandro Chetcuti insisted that despite the trying times the economy is facing, the property industry has once again shown it can withstand the storm, without relying on direct state interventions.

He said that according to the latest KPMG study, by the end of 2019, the industry was employing 50,000 people directly and indirectly. 

"This is a clear sign that the property market is alive and kicking and that more incentives benefits the whole economy," he said.

Prime Minister Robert Abela said the decision to reduce excise duty from 5% to 1.5% had immediately given results and left a positive impact on jobs.