The Planning Authority is looking into the possibility of another scheme to fund the restoration of old house façades after the one it launched on Tuesday was oversubscribed within minutes, Planning Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi said on Wednesday. 

He said he had spoken to the PA chief executive, since these were funds derived from planning applications, to see whether the authority could identify other funds to issue a similar scheme.

The 'Irrestawra Darek' scheme was oversubscribed within minutes of opening on Tuesday, leaving architects furious as they tried and failed to submit their clients' applications.

Zrinzo Azzopardi said that more than 350 applications were registered within the first few minutes of the scheme being opened - enough to take up the €4 million allocated for it by the PA. 

He said the scheme was on a first come first served basis and it was so popular that it was fully taken up within minutes. 

The Chamber of Architects (Kamra tal-Periti) called the application rollout a "farce" and called on the PA to make the scheme open-ended, with people placed on waiting lists. 

Speaking on Wednesday, Zrinzo Azzopardi indicated he was open to revising the scheme's application process. 

He said a new scheme may be opened if the funds are found and mentioned the possibility of tweaking the way applications are submitted, given what happened on Tuesday.

As architects fumed over their inability to submit applications, some questioned whether the system had been rigged to favour specific applicants. 

The Planning Authority vehemently denied that was the case, saying all architects were given access to the application portal at the same time, 12pm. 

On Wednesday, to further quash those doubts, the PA published a list of the applications received (see pdf link below) and said it registered an "overwhelming response" from applicants.

More than 200 architects had submitted applications within minutes of the scheme opening, it said.

The Irrestawra Darek scheme allows owners of properties in Urban Conservation Areas to apply for up to €11,000 to reimburse the costs of restoring their property's façade. 

A total of €4 million was allocated to the fund this year. A separate €1 million pot will be allocated to owners of scheduled properties. Applications for those funds open on June 6. 

Chamber welcomes plans for new scheme

The Chamber of Architects welcomed the plans for the new scheme and regretted that it was never consulted about the old one.

"We welcome the fact that Minister Zrinzo Azzopardi is finally considering reopening the scheme after taking our recommendations into consideration," the Chamber said in a statement.

It said its recommendations had included a call to do away with the first come, first served method.

The recommendations were made to then ministers for Planning Ian Borg and Aaron Farrugia and then PA Board Chairperson Vince Cassar among others. But none provided a proper handover to the current minister and Planning Authority administration. 

The chamber said its council members first heard of the current scheme on May 19, when the conditions were communicated to all architects via email. That was too late for the recommendations the chamber made after the 2019 edition of the scheme to be integrated.

The council members' immediate reaction was of shock and dismay as the date and time seemed to intentionally clash with a seminar organised by the chamber. A request was made for the opening of the scheme to be shifted by a day or at least moved to 2pm. The minister’s response was that he was only willing to shift the opening to 12pm. However the chamber only got confirmation of this shift on Monday, when an email sent out to all architects confirmed the change in time. That caused a general scramble across the profession and in the organisation of the seminar.