HOME OWNERSHIP (ENCOURAGEMENT) 
(SUBSIDY ON ADAPTATION WORKS SCHEME) [ S.L.328.01 1
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 328.01
HOME OWNERSHIP (ENCOURAGEMENT) 
(SUBSIDY ON ADAPTATION WORKS SCHEME) 
REGULATIONS 
7th September, 1990
LEGAL NOTICE 137 of 1990, as amended by Legal Notices 215 of 1990,
98 of 1991 and 10 of 1992.
Citation. 
(Encouragement) (Subsidy on Adaptation Works Scheme)
Regulations.
Making of 
Scheme.
2. The Scheme entitled Subsidy on Adaptation Works
Scheme, 1990 (Scheme SHD 15) in the Schedule shall have effect
from the coming into force of these regulations for the
encouragement of home ownership in Malta and shall substitute the
scheme mentioned in the following regulation.
Revocation of 
Scheme HD 12.
3. The scheme entitled Subsidy on Adaptation Works in
Owner Occupied Dwellings, Scheme HD 12, published by
Government Notice 124 in the Government Gazette of the 16th
February, 1988, is hereby revoked.
Amended by:
L.N. 215 of 1990;
L.N. 98 of 1991;
L.N. 10 of 1992.
SCHEDULE
(Regulation 2)
Subsidy on Adaptation Works Scheme, 1990 (Scheme SHD 15)
Citation.
Works Scheme, 1990 (Scheme SHD 15) and shall apply to
applications for assistance in the adaptation and improvement of
owner occupied dwelling-houses by persons to whom this Scheme
applies.
Interpretation.
"applicant" means a person who applies for assistance under this
Scheme for the carrying out by him of adaptation or improvement
works in a dwelling-house of which he is the owner and occupied
by him as his ordinary residence;
Cap. 261.
"the Authority" means the Housing Authority established by
article 3 of the Housing Authority Act;
"basic year" means the year immediately preceding the year in
which an application under this Scheme is made;
"beneficiary" has the same meaning assigned to it in article 2 of
the principal Act;
"the Director" means the Director of Social Housing and includes
any person authorised to act in his behalf;
"dwelling-house" has the same meaning assigned to it in article 2
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HOME OWNERSHIP (ENCOURAGEMENT) 
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of the principal Act;
"Government" means the Government of Malta;
"ordinary residence" does not include a summer residence;
"owner" includes a co-owner and a person holding a dwelling
house under a title of perpetual emphyteusis;
"prescribed" means prescribed by the Director;
Cap. 328. "the principal Act" means the Home Ownership
(Encouragement) Act.
Applications for 
assistance.
Amended by:
L.N. 215 of 1990;
L.N. 98 of 1991;
L.N. 10 of 1992.
3. (1) Any person qualified to do so under this Scheme may,
not later than the 31st July, 1992, make an application on the
prescribed form to the Director requesting assistance for adaptation
or improvement works, or for both, of the kind specified in clause
7, in a dwelling-house occupied by him as his ordinary residence
and of which he is the owner.
(2) A person shall qualify to make an application under this
Scheme where, on the date of the application:
( a ) the applicant or, in the case of a married couple, the
applicant’s spouse, is a citizen of Malta; and
( b ) the applicant is a resident of Malta and has been so
resident continuously for not less than twelve
consecutive months immediately preceding the date of
the application; and
( c ) the annual income of the applicant assessed in
accordance with the provisions of clause 5 does not
exceed three thousand liri (Lm 3,000) for the basic
year.
(3) Subject to the provisions of sub-clause (2), an application
by persons engaged to each other shall be made in their joint names
and both must be over eighteen years of age. In such a case they
shall be jointly and severally liable for the carrying out of all the
conditions laid down in this Scheme.
(4) Saving the provisions of sub-clause (5), a person shall not
qualify to make an application under this Scheme where:
( a ) the applicant or the applicant’s spouse has already
benefited from any assistance under what used to be
known as the "Home Ownership Scheme", or from the
Scheme published by Government Notice 124 in the
Government Gazette of the 16th February, 1988, or
from any other assistance for the encouragement of
home ownership by the Department of Social Housing
or by the Land Department or by the Authority or by
any of them jointly;
( b ) assistance under this Scheme has already been granted
in respect of works to be carried out in the same
dwelling-house to which the application refers.
(5) A person who has already benefited under -
( a ) any scheme for the subsidisation of rent; or
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(SUBSIDY ON ADAPTATION WORKS SCHEME) [ S.L.328.01 3
( b ) any of the schemes published by Government Notices
Numbers 125, 127, 128, 129, and 130 in the
Government Gazette of the 16th February, 1988; or
( c ) the Subsidy on Interest on House Loans (Private
Sector) Scheme, 1990 (Scheme SHD 16); or
( d ) the Purchase of Government Dwelling-Houses
Scheme, 1990 (Scheme E); or
( e ) the Purchase of Private Dwelling-Houses Scheme,
1990 (Scheme F);
shall not for that reason alone be disqualified from making an
application under this Scheme:
Provided that any person who has already benefited from
the Scheme mentioned in paragraph ( c ) shall not qualify to benefit
under clause 9.
(6) Any expenses incurred by the applicant in connection with
his application shall not be recoverable by the applicant whether or
not his application is successful.
Legally separated 
spouses.
4. An applicant who is legally separated from his spouse shall
produce a copy of the final judgement of the competent court
pronouncing separation or a copy of the public deed effecting
separation by mutual consent of the spouses with the authority of
the competent court.
Assessment of 
income.
5. (1) For the purposes of this Scheme, the income of the
applicant shall include:
( a ) gross gains or profits from any trade, business,
profession or vocation excluding social insurance
contributions;
( b ) gross gains or profits from any employment or office
excluding social insurance contributions and any
earnings from working overtime;
( c ) gross gains or profits arising from the sale of any
property or from the carrying on or carrying out of any
profit-making undertaking or scheme;
( d ) dividends, interests or discounts;
( e ) any pension, charge, annuity or annual payment;
( f ) rents, royalties, premiums and any other profits arising
from property;
( g ) the value of any produce receivable in respect of the
use of capital, property, seed or stock for the purpose
of husbandry or any share of profits receivable in
respect of such use;
Cap. 318.
( h ) any social benefit or allowance excluding any
Children’s Allowance, Special Allowance, Parental
Allowance and Handicapped Child Allowance payable
under the Social Security Act;
( i ) any gains or profits falling under the descriptions in
the foregoing paragraphs made by the applicant’s
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HOME OWNERSHIP (ENCOURAGEMENT) 
(SUBSIDY ON ADAPTATION WORKS SCHEME)
spouse or fiancée/ fiancé;
( j ) any other gains or profits.
(2) Where the applicant, and in the case of a married or
engaged couple, the applicant or his spouse or fiancée/fiancé, or
both, were gainfully occupied during only a part of the basic year,
the gains or profits from such occupation shall be projected  pro
rata  for the whole basic year provided that the applicant, spouse or
fiancée/fiancé, as the case may be, is gainfully occupied on the date
the Director receives the application.
Information. 6. (1) The applicant and any member of the applicant’s
family shall give all that information regarding their financial
means as they may be required to give by the Director and for this
purpose they shall authorise the Commissioner of Inland Revenue,
the Director of Social Security and any other person as may be
necessary, to give the Director any information concerning their
income during the basic year.
(2) The Director may require the applicant to sign any
declaration he may consider necessary for the carrying out of this
Scheme and the applicant shall allow the Director to inspect his
ordinary residence and any other tenement held by him as the
Director may require.
Adaptation or 
improvement 
works.
7. The adaptation and improvement works to which this
Scheme applies are:
( a ) repairs to dangerous structures;
( b ) the replacement of old water and electricity
installations;
( c ) improvement works in bathrooms below an acceptable
standard;
( d ) the construction of additional rooms for the
improvement of accommodation in accordance with
the needs of the size of the applicant’s family;
( e ) the construction of wells;
( f ) the substitution of worn floor tiles:
( g ) repairs to an old drainage system or its substitution;
( h ) the replacement of doors or apertures or both, as the
case may be, which are below an acceptable standard:
Provided that the provisions of this Scheme shall not apply
to any works commenced or carried out before the approval by the
Director of the application made in respect of those works.
Cash grants. 8. (1) Where the dwelling-house was constructed and ready
for habitation before the 1st January, 1960, the Director may grant
any person qualified to make an application under this Scheme an
amount of money in cash as assistance for the carrying out in the
said dwelling house of the works referred to in the application in
accordance with the following provisions of this clause.
(2) Where the applicant was already the owner and was
already living in the dwelling-house on the date of the coming into
HOME OWNERSHIP (ENCOURAGEMENT) 
(SUBSIDY ON ADAPTATION WORKS SCHEME) [ S.L.328.01 5
force of this Scheme, the cash grant which may be paid by the
Director shall not exceed five hundred liri (Lm 500) and in any case
shall not exceed 60% of the total cost of the works to be carried out
and approved by the Director:
Provided that where the works to be carried out fall under
clause 7( c ) the cash grant shall not exceed three hundred and fifty
liri (Lm350).
(3) Subject to the provisions of sub-clause (4) and saving the
provisions of sub-clause (6), where the applicant became the owner
of the dwelling-house after the date of the coming into force of this
Scheme:
( a ) where the said dwelling-house was constructed and
ready for habitation before the 1st January, 1939, the
cash grant which may be paid by the Director shall not
exceed one thousand and five hundred liri (Lm1,500)
and in any case shall not exceed 80% of the total cost
of the works to be carried out and approved by the
Director;
( b ) where the said dwelling-house was constructed and
ready for habitation on or after the 1st January, 1939,
the cash grant which may be paid by the Director shall
not exceed one thousand liri (Lm1,000) and in any
case shall not exceed 80% of the total cost of the
works to be carried out and approved by the Director:
Provided that where the works to be carried out fall under
clause 7( c ) the cash grant shall not exceed three hundred and fifty
liri (Lm350):
Provided also that any person whose application in
accordance with the provisions of this sub-clause has been
approved by the Director shall be required to enter into a public
deed with the Director and should that person fail to appear on the
deed when called upon to do so by the Director his application shall
be deemed to have been abandoned and any approval by the
Director of the said application shall be without any effect.
(4) Where the applicant became the owner of the dwelling
house after the coming into force of this Scheme by virtue of being
a beneficiary under -
( a ) any of the schemes published by Government Notices
Numbers 127, 128, 129, and 130 in the Government
Gazette of the 16th February, 1988; or
( b ) the Purchase of Government Dwelling-Houses
Scheme, 1990 (Scheme E); or
( c ) the Purchase of Private Dwelling-Houses Scheme,
1990 (Scheme F);
the provisions of sub-clause (2) shall apply as if the applicant was
already the owner and was already living in the dwelling house on
the date of the coming into force of this Scheme.
(5) The works approved by the Director shall be completed
within six months from the date of such approval and, saving the
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HOME OWNERSHIP (ENCOURAGEMENT) 
(SUBSIDY ON ADAPTATION WORKS SCHEME)
provisions of sub-clause (6), any grant under this clause is payable
when the Director has determined that the said works have been
carried out as approved by him.
(6) Where the application is made under the provisions of sub-
clause (3) and the applicant cannot occupy the dwelling-house
before the works have been carried out:
( a ) in the case of a married applicant the cash grant shall
not be paid before the applicant occupies the dwelling-
house;
( b ) in the case of an application by persons engaged to
each other the applicants shall occupy the dwelling-
house within 18 months from the date of the approval
of the cash grant.
(7) The Director may also approve the subsidisation of a loan
as provided in clause 9 saving the provisions of sub-clause (3) of
that clause.
Subsidised loans. 9. (1) Where the dwelling-house was constructed and ready
for habitation on or after the 1st January, 1960 the Director may
approve the subsidisation of a loan agreed to between an applicant
qualified to make an application under this Scheme and a financial
institution approved by the Director in which case the provisions of
sub-clause (2) shall apply.
(2) The amount of any loan which may attract a subsidy under
the provisions of sub-clause (1) shall not exceed two thousand liri
(Lm 2,000) and the subsidy shall be such that the interest payable
by the applicant shall not at any time exceed 3%.
(3) The foregoing provisions of this clause shall not apply to
any applicant who is a beneficiary under the Subsidy on Interest on
House Loans (Private Sector) Scheme, 1990 (Scheme SHD 16).
Transfer by the 
beneficiary.
10. (1) Any dwelling-house whose owner is a beneficiary
under clause 8(3)( a ) or ( b ) shall not be transferred under any title,
other than  causa mortis , by the beneficiary unless he complies with
the following provisions of this clause. 
(2) Where the transfer is to take place within the period of ten
years from the date of the grant of any assistance under this
Scheme, as shown in the first column of the Table annexed to the
same Scheme, the beneficiary shall, before the transfer is effected,
refund to the Director the whole or part of the value of any grant
and subsidy made under this Scheme as laid down in the second
column of the said Table.
(3) Where the transfer is to take place after ten years from the
date of the grant of any assistance under this Scheme the
beneficiary shall give the Director one month’s notice of his
intention to transfer the said dwelling-house and the Director shall
thereupon terminate any arrangement for the subsidy under this
Scheme of any interests payable by the beneficiary.
(4) The provisions of sub-clauses (2) and (3) shall also apply
mutatis mutandis  where the beneficiary does not continue to
occupy the dwelling-house as his ordinary residence.
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(SUBSIDY ON ADAPTATION WORKS SCHEME) [ S.L.328.01 7
Effects of 
dissolution of 
engagement on 
joint applications 
by engaged 
persons.
11. (1) In the case of a joint application be engaged persons,
where the engagement is subsequently dissolved:
( a ) both applicants shall, within thirty days from the date
of such dissolution, give notice thereof to the Director;
( b ) the Director shall immediately suspend any subsidy on
interests and any further withdrawals on any loan
account pending investigations and his final decision
thereon;
( c ) the applicants shall, within thirty days from the date of
the notice mentioned in paragraph ( a ) and in
accordance with and subject to the conditions laid
down in the provisions of clause 10, jointly request in
writing authority to transfer under a title of sale or
perpetual emphyteusis the dwelling-house in respect of
which their application had been approved;
( d ) the applicants shall, within three months from the date
of the approval of their request made according to
paragraph ( c ), transfer the said dwelling-house as
aforesaid:
Provided that the Director may extend the mentioned
period of three months as he may deem fit.
(2) Where the applicants fail to comply with the provisions of
sub-clause (1)( a ) the provisions of paragraph ( b ) of the same sub-
clause shall apply from the date that the Director becomes
otherwise aware of the dissolution of the engagement.
(3) Where, notwithstanding the efforts of the applicants to
comply with the provisions of sub-clause (1)( c ) and ( d ), the transfer
of the dwelling-house cannot take place within the period laid
down in the said paragraph ( d ) because no purchaser or acquirer of
the dwelling-house comes forward to conclude the transfer, the
Director shall have the right to purchase or acquire the said
dwelling-house from the applicants at a price fixed by an architect
designated for the purpose by the Director or to require the
applicants to authorise him to transfer as aforesaid the same
dwelling-house on their behalf.
(4) Where the Director exercises his aforesaid right to
purchase or acquire the dwelling-house, from the price determined
in accordance with the provisions of sub-clause (3) the Director
shall deduct any grant or subsidies from which the applicants
benefited under this Scheme and all expenses and penalties as
determined by the Director and the remaining balance shall be the
amount payable to the applicants on the deed of transfer saving any
obligations entered into by them in favour of the financial
institution approved by the Director in respect of any loan
advanced to them.
Penalty for false 
declarations.
12. (1) If at any time it results that the applicant has made a
false declaration for the purposes of any application made by him
under the provisions of this Scheme the applicant, without
prejudice to any punishment for which he may have become liable
under any other law, shall be liable to the payment to the Director
of a penalty equivalent to the amount of any grant and of any
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HOME OWNERSHIP (ENCOURAGEMENT) 
(SUBSIDY ON ADAPTATION WORKS SCHEME)
subsidy received by the applicant under this Scheme.
(2) Any person who has made a false declaration as provided
in sub-clause (1) shall be disqualified for a period of five years
from benefiting from any scheme made with the approval of the
Parliamentary Secretary responsible for housing.
Lodgement and 
abandonment of 
applications.
13. (1) Any application under this Scheme shall be lodged
personally or by registered post by the applicant with the Director.
(2) Where any applicant, when called upon to do so by the
Director, fails to appear on the public deed mentioned in the second
proviso of clause 8(3) his application shall be deemed to have been
abandoned.
Right of refusal. 14. Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing
provisions of this Scheme the Director shall have the right to refuse
any application.
TABLE
(Clause 10)
First Column Second Column
Period in Years After Date of Grant of 
Assistance
Repayment of 
Grant and 
Subsidy
less than 4 .................................................... 100%
4 or more but less than 5 .............................. 85%
5 or more but less than 6 .............................. 70%
6 or more but less than 7 .............................. 55%
7 or more but less than 8 .............................. 40%
8 or more but less than 9 .............................. 25%
9 or more but less than 10 ............................ 10%.
