Government-owned rented commercial properties are to become eligible for emphyteusis of 50 years under a new scheme announced on Tuesday.

Lands minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi recalled that in 2015 the government had introduced a pilot scheme where the leases of government-owned shops in Valletta could be converted to emphyteusis.

The scheme will now be extended to the whole country, and updated, he said.  

The details are being explained in a legal notice due to be published in the Government Gazette later on Tuesday. The notice will include a schedule of properties which will be eligible under the new scheme, including properties classified by the Planning Authority as 2B, 2C, 3A and 3B, 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D, 51 and 6A.

They include non-residential properties such as those used for education, tourist accommodation, hotels, offices, shops, restaurants, warehousing, distribution, light industry, entertainment arcades, diving schools, take-aways, supermarkets, gaming halls and bakeries.  

The emphyteusis will be worked out at 2% of the value of the property which will be periodically reviewable.