A new legal notice will enable owners of residential properties that breach sanitary laws to regularise their position against an administrative cost of €250.
The new legal notice that will come into effect on 1st August addresses sanitary laws governing the size of back and internal yards, floor to ceiling height and rooms built in the backyard. It applies to developments built before 1st August. Residential properties that are regularized in accordance with the applicable legal provisions will be granted, among others, compliance certificates necessary to apply for new water and electricity connections, which to date cannot be supplied in the case of illegalities.
It is estimated that this legal notice will mostly affect apartment blocks and small houses built between the 1970s and 1990s, which could not been sold due to breaches of sanitary regulations. This can be attributed to two reasons, namely that one of the conditions for which a bank loan is granted to a prospective purchaser includes the requirement that the building is compliant to sanitary regulations. Another reason can be attributed to a common condition included in the Promise of Sale Agreement, that is that the property be covered by all necessary permits and that the building is structurally sound. This would include permits issued by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) and other local authorities addressing building permits, sanitary conditions and other standards set in local legislation. In assessing whether the property is covered by such purchases and whether it is structurally sound, the purchaser typically appoints an architect who evaluates the property.
The concession is not automatic and prospective applicants are required to submit a formal request supported by an architect, and in certain cases, a report by an engineer.
