House buyers have saved more than €20 million in taxes by investing in vacant properties or traditional Maltese homes in village cores, the prime minister told developers on Wednesday.

Robert Abela told members of the Malta Developers Association that a budget 2022 measure intended to incentivise purchases of "typical" Maltese properties was proving to be a success.

The measure, announced last October, offers tax cuts to anyone who buys a home that has been vacant for seven or more years, is in a UCA or built in a “traditional” Maltese style. 

Purchasers who qualify do not pay any capital gains tax or stamp duty on the first €750,000 in value of the property. 

Speaking during a pre-budget meeting with the MDA, Abela said that the measures meant that the government had forgone €18.6 million in taxes on UCA property purchases and more than €1 million in taxes owed on the purchase of vacant homes. 

Abela told developers that construction need not come at the environment’s expense and that his government would “continue to incentivise development that makes sense and is of quality”.

MDA president Michael Stivala told the prime minister that the lobby group backed the government’s decision to subsidise energy costs without raising taxes and looked forward to further incentives that would encourage private investment.

The MDA was also in favour of improving working conditions, he said, and believed that the annual cost-of-living adjustment, which this year is likely to come close to €10 a week, should be paid in full “no matter how much it is”.

Abela was accompanied to the meeting by four of his ministers – Clyde Caruana, Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, Silvio Schembri and Miriam Dalli – junior minister Andy Ellul, MP Deo Debattista and chief of staff Glenn Micallef.