Young first-time property buyers are to have the 3.5 per cent duty on the first €150,000 of the value of the property waived next year.

Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said this was a one-time offer for those who never held property before, whether directly or indirectly, and who sign the final deed by the end of 2014.

This measure, he said, was expected to boost the property market and save buyers some €5,250 on their purchase.

Furthermore government architects would no longer be sent to check the value of the properties and the government would accept the value as calculated by private architects. There would, however, be safeguards to deter abuse.

The government, he said, would also launch a pilot project to identify all the property in Valletta which belonged to it.