Maltese residents' security of tenure
A reader has been occupying a house on temporary emphyteusis for the last 15 years. The emphyteutical concession is now due to expire and he is worried that he and his family might be evicted, since the owners intend to resume possession of the...
A reader has been occupying a house on temporary emphyteusis for the last 15 years. The emphyteutical concession is now due to expire and he is worried that he and his family might be evicted, since the owners intend to resume possession of the property when the emphyteusis expires.
What is the reader's position at law, particularly in the light of the 1995 rent laws?
Primarily, we are here dealing with an emphyteutical concession and not with a lease of property. It seems that the reader in question is confusing the laws which regulate the rent of urban immovable property with the laws regulating emphyteutical concessions of dwelling houses to Maltese citizens who are occupying the said houses as their ordinary residence.
According to the Housing Decontrol Ordinance the reader would, upon the expiration of the emphyteutical concession, be entitled to occupy the house under a lease from the owner under the terms and conditions stipulated in the Ordinance.
On the other hand, it is true that by Act XXXI of 1995, the right granted to a tenant to renew a lease on its expiry is now inapplicable to the lease of premises entered into after June 1, 1995. However, the reader should note that according to this law, the continued occupation of a dwelling house under a lease from the direct owner on the expiration of a temporary emphyteusis happening on or after June 1, 1995, shall not be deemed to be a new lease on or after that date.
Besides, the law further provides that, the agreed, legal, customary or any other renewal of a lease after June 1, 1995 shall not be deemed to be a lease entered into on or after that date.
Therefore, upon the expiry of the emphyteutical concession the reader shall not only have the right to continue occupying the house under a title of lease, but shall also be entitled to remain in occupation as a lessee, in terms of the provisions of the Housing Decontrol Ordinance.
The reader is reassured that the 1995 amendments to the rent laws do not apply to this case.
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