The owners of a Lija palazzo rented to a social club for more than 90 years have been awarded €260,000 in compensation after a judge found their right to the enjoyment of their property was breached by the old rent laws.

The palazzo is the seat of the Soċjetà Sant’Andrija, in the heart of the town.

The house owners were deprived of their human right to enjoy their property when they were forced to accept the paltry sum of €128 a year for the rental of their house, the court established.

The decision by the First Hall of the Civil Court, in its constitutional jurisdiction, was the latest in a long line of judgments declaring that the legal regime regulating pre-1979 leases placed a disproportionate burden on landlords and made it practically impossible for them to regain possession of their property.

There is an equally long list of decisions by the European Court of Human Rights, which ordered the government to stop violating property rights.

Tailored in light of the social reality that prevailed in 1979, the Housing (Decontrol) Ordinance amendments had been introduced to ensure that people did not end up homeless. In doing so, however, it effectively kept the landlords from regaining their properties.

Over the years, legal amendments were done for the amount of payable rent to increase but this was still low when compared to the value of the property.

In the case of the Lija palazzo, owned by brothers Mark and Stephen Brincat, which they acquired from their aunt in 1990, the club was paying €128 a year, increasing incrementally every year. The rent due next year is €265.

The property had been purchased with a lessee as the palazzo has been rented out to the club since the 1920s.

Madam Justice Anna Felice observed that the lease by band clubs was “a delicate issue” given that clubs have a social, philanthropic function and are of public interest in Maltese cultural life as they maintain certain cultural traditions alive.

She said that, over the years, legislators have tried to strike a balance between social, private and public interests with a view of sharing the burden.

The court heard how the band club began renting the property in 1921 from its owner, Raphael Toledo, but, 10 years later, the property returned to its owners as the club did not have the funds to continue renting it.

In 1939, the property was again rented out to the social club and remained so since then.

The Brincat siblings, who bought the property from their aunt, Toledo’s daughter, in 1990, said they had tried to reach a settlement with the club but the sum being offered for the purchase was too low.

They told the court that the property had been rented against the wishes of the owners since 1948.

According to the architect, the property was valued at €1.8 million while the value of the property with the club as lessees dropped to €235,000.

The court quoted the European court, which had commented on the fair balance that must be struck between the demands of the general interest of the community and the requirements of the protection of the individual’s fundamental rights.

Madam Justice Felice ruled that the old rent laws lacked adequate procedural safeguards aimed at achieving a balance between the interests of the tenants and those of the owners.

She, therefore, ordered the attorney general to pay the property owners €250,000 in compensation plus €10,000 in moral damages.

Landlords must file separate proceedings before the Rent Regulation Tribunal to be awarded an eviction order against their tenants.

Last year, the government launched a process to buy the properties leased to band clubs.