First-time buyers will be granted €10,000 over ten years to help with their home loan repayments, Clyde Caruana announced.

The measure was one of Labour's key electoral pledges last year. 

The money will go towards the payment of their home loans and the scheme covers property purchases since the beginning of 2022. The maximum allowed value of the property is €500,000. 

Moreover, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana also announced that previous schemes related to property purchases will be extended for the next two years, including the stamp tax reduction schemes for first-time buyers, second-time buyers and the purchase of property in Gozo.

In last year’s budget, the government had announced that Stamp Duty and Capital Gains tax will be removed on the first €750,000 when selling and purchasing one of the following property types: those built more than 20 years ago and which have been vacant for seven years; for properties within the UCA; for new properties that are built in typical and traditional Maltese style and architecture.

Aside from this, first time-buyers of these properties were to receive a €15,000 grant. Some 246 applications were received for this scheme.

Caruana said that 2,800 people benefited from these schemes and saved some €18 million in taxes. 2

First-time buyer Gozitan couples who purchase such properties in Gozo will receive a €30,000 grant.

The government had announced last year that people who renovate such properties received a grant on the value of the VAT paid up to a maximum of €54,000 for the first €300,000 spent on restoration and finishing expenses. This will also be extended by a further two years.

Caruana also announced the setting up of a new board in the first quarter of next year, which will be tasked with ensuring that new properties are built according to quality and aesthetic guidelines that will be established so that, as promised, owners of these properties can also benefit from tax breaks and grants.