             RENT RESTRICTION (DWELLING HOUSES)  ġ CAP. 116.   1
CHAPTER 116
RENT RESTRICTION (DWELLING HOUSES) 
ORDINANCE 
To restrict the rent of dwelling houses, and to make certain provisions in
respect of the letting thereof.
(2nd October, 1944) *
Enacted by ORDINANCE XVI of 1944, as amended by Ordinance XXIX
of 1947; Acts: V of 1947, I of 1957; Emergency Ordinance XIV of 1958;
Ordinances: VI of 1959 and XXV of 1962; Legal Notices: 4 of 1963 and 46
of 1965; Acts: XXII of 1976, XI of 1977, XIII of 1983, VIII of 1990 and
XXXI of 1995.
Short title. 
Amended by: 
V. 1947.5.
1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Rent Restriction
(Dwelling Houses) Ordinance.
Interpretation. 
Amended by: 
XXIX.1947.3; 
V.1947.2; 
I.1957.2; 
XXV. 1962.5; 
L.N. 4 of 1963. 
Cap. 69.
2. In this Ordinance - 
"agricultural land" does not include the garden of a house or
building, or land within the precincts of a house or building;
 "Board" means the Board constituted under the Reletting of
Urban Property (Regulation) Ordinance. For the purposes of this
Ordinance the Board shall have the same powers and shall proceed
in accordance with the same rules of procedure, so far as
applicable, as are provided in the said Ordinance;
"dwelling house" means a building, a part of a building
separately let, or a room separately let, which is let mainly as a
dwelling or place of residence, and includes land occupied with the
premises under the tenancy, but does not include a building, part of
a building or room when let with agricultural land;
"fair rent" means - 
(i) in respect of an old house, the rent which might
reasonably be expected in respect of an old
house regard being had to the average rents
prevalent on the 31st March, 1939, as shown on
the registers of the Land Valuation Office in
respect of comparable dwelling houses in the
same or in comparable localities:
        Provided that where, after the 31st March, 1939,
structural alterations or additions in a house,
whether old or new, have been carried out
which, in the opinion of the Board, have
enhanced the rental value of the house and in
respect of which or, as the case may be, of a part
of which, no compensation has been paid or is
payable under the provisions of the War Damage
*  See  section 1 of the Ordinance, as originally enacted, part of which has been omitted
under the Statute Law Revision Act, 1980, and Proclamation No. VII of 29th
September, 1944.
  2       CAP. 116. ħ         RENT RESTRICTION (DWELLING HOUSES) 
Ordinance, 1943 * , and no amount has been paid
or is payable by way of a grant by the
Government of Malta, the rent shall be increased
by an amount which, in the opinion of the
Board, corresponds to the enhancement of the
rental value and which shall in no case exceed a
return of three and one quarter  per centum  a year
on the capital outlay on the alterations or
additions (excluding any interest on loans or in
respect of idle capital) or, as the case may be, on
the part thereof in respect of which
compensation has not been paid and is not
payable under the provisions of the War Damage
Ordinance, 1943*, and no amount has been paid
or is payable by way of grant by the Government
of Malta, in every case as proven by the landlord
to the satisfaction of the Board or, in default, as
assessed by the Board; and
(ii) in respect of a new house, a sum equivalent to a
return of three  per centum  a year on the freehold
value of the site and of three and one quarter  per
centum  on the capital outlay on construction
(excluding any sum which has been paid or is
payable by way of a grant by the Government of
Malta and any interest on loans or in respect of
idle capital) as proven by the landlord to the
satisfaction of the Board or, in default, as
assessed by the Board:
        Provided that where a payment under the War
Damage Ordinance, 1943*, is made by or is due
from the war damage account in respect of a
former building out of which or on the site of
which a new house is erected in whole or in part,
for the purpose of computing the fair rent of that
new house the return on that part of the capital
outlay thus contributed by or due from the war
damage account shall in no case exceed one
year’s fair rent of the former building as on 31st
March,1939, or three and one quarter  per centum
for one year on that part of the capital outlay,
whichever is the less;
(iii) in respect of a scheme house, an annual sum to
be determined by agreement as provided in
subsection (4) of section 5;
"landlord" includes any person deriving title under the original
landlord;
Cap. 110.
"Land Valuation Officer" means the officer appointed as such by
the Prime Minister for the purposes of the Developed Land
(Valuation) Ordinance;
"let" includes sub-let;
*Repealed by Act XXIX of 1980 (Chapter 289).
             RENT RESTRICTION (DWELLING HOUSES)  ġ CAP. 116.   3
"new house" means any dwelling house which, apart from
fittings, decoration and alterations, even if structural, was not
complete or ready for use on the 31st March, 1939;
"old house" means any dwelling house which, apart from fittings,
decoration and alterations, even if structural, was complete or
ready for use on the 31st March, 1939;
"scheme house" means a privately owned new dwelling house
designed to be separately let towards the construction of which the
Government has made a grant under a house building scheme;
"tenant" includes sub-tenant, and "tenancy" includes sub-
tenancy. 
Repair, rebuilding 
and alteration of a 
house or additions 
thereto, paid for 
under War Damage 
Ordinance, do not 
change its nature. 
Added by: 
XXIX. 1947.4.
3. Any repair or rebuilding of a dwelling house, effected
under a temporary works payment or under a cost of works
payment or under or in view of a value payment, each as defined in
the War Damage Ordinance, 1943 * , or any addition to or alteration
of the structure of a dwelling house shall not operate so as to
change the old or new nature of the house, notwithstanding that the
plan of the structure but not the nature and general dimensions
thereof may have been materially altered.
Fair rent.  Amended 
by: I.1957.3; 
VI.1959.3; 
XXII.1976.4; 
XIII. 1983.4,5.
4. (1) The fair rent of an old house may be established
provisionally or definitely.
(2) The fair rent of an old house is established definitely -
( a ) by the Board under subsection (1) of section 5 or under
section 6;
( b ) by the effluxion of time as provided in subsection (1)
(i) of section 5.
(3) The fair rent of an old house is established provisionally in
the appropriate cases -
( a ) by the Land Valuation Officer; or
( b ) by the Accountant General or by one of the officers
specified in subsection (5) of this section.
(4) On application accompanied by a fee of five cents, the Land
Valuation Officer shall issue, in respect of any one particular old
house, a certificate stating what is the rent of that particular old
house, finally accepted as such in the books of the Land Valuation
Office, and the rent so stated shall be deemed the provisional fair
rent of that house.
(5) In the case of old dwelling houses the whole legal interest
in which, other than any letting, is vested in the Government of
Malta, the fair rent shall be established provisionally at the rent of
the particular dwelling house on the 31st March, 1939, or at the
rent of that particular dwelling house at any time within one month
of that day, in each case as declared in writing by the Accountant
General. If that particular old dwelling house was not let on the
31st March, 1939, or within one month of that day then the fair rent
shall be established only definitely by the Board.
*Repealed by Act XXIX of 1980 (Chapter 289).
  4       CAP. 116. ħ         RENT RESTRICTION (DWELLING HOUSES) 
(6) The fair rent of a new house may be established only
definitely, only by the Board under subsection (2) of section 5.
(7) The fair rent of a scheme house may be established only
definitely and only by agreement as provided in subsection (4) of
section 5.
Renewals of 
tenancy and new 
tenancies. 
Amended by:
I. 1957.4; 
XIV. 1958.2; 
XXV. 1962.5; 
XI. 1977.2; 
XIII.1983.5.
5. (1) When a landlord intends to let or to renew the letting
of-
 ( a ) a dwelling house at a rent higher than or on conditions
different to the rent and conditions at which that
dwelling house was let on the 31st March, 1939; or
( b ) an old house which was not let on the 31st March,
1939 -
(i) the landlord and the tenant may come to an
agreement concerning the rent and the
conditions but they may not agree that the rent
shall exceed the provisionally established fair
rent nor that the letting shall be on more onerous
conditions than those at which that dwelling
house was let on the 31st March, 1939, or, in
default of any such conditions, on conditions
more onerous than the ordinary conditions.
During the twenty-eight working days following
the day of the agreement either the landlord or
the tenant may apply to the Board for an
adjustment of the rent or of the conditions so
agreed to and any adjustment thereupon made by
the Board shall be retrospective to the initial day
of the agreement, or, alternatively,
(ii) the landlord, before the commencement or
renewal of the tenancy, may apply to the Board
to fix the fair rent definitely.
(2) When the landlord intends to let a new house - 
(i) the landlord and the tenant may come to a
provisional agreement concerning the rent and
the conditions, but so that that agreement shall
be made definite only by a decision of the Board
on the application of either the landlord or the
tenant, which decision shall in every case have
retrospective effect to the initial date of the
agreement. It shall be an offence for the landlord
not to make such application within two months
from the initial day of the agreement, unless the
tenant will have previously made the
application. Alternatively,
(ii) the landlord, before the commencement of the
tenancy, may apply to the Board to fix the fair
rent definitely.
(3) In every case the applicant to the Board shall disclose the
terms and conditions of the proposed letting and all the
             RENT RESTRICTION (DWELLING HOUSES)  ġ CAP. 116.   5
circumstances which to his knowledge affect the fair rent of the
dwelling house.
(4) Before a grant is made towards the construction of a
scheme house or simultaneously with the making thereof an
agreement shall be entered into by means of a notarial deed
between the Minister for the time being in charge of the War
Damage Commission or some other person from time to time
delegated by him in that behalf and the grantee, determining the
fair rent of the proposed scheme house.
Cap. 69.
(5) In respect of a house whether old or new, repaired or rebuilt
under or in view of a value payment as defined in the War Damage
Ordinance, 1943 * , or repaired under a temporary works payment or
under a cost of works payment, each as defined in the War Damage
Ordinance, 1943*, of which the landlord does not want to retain
possession for occupation by himself, the last former tenant as
defined in the Reletting of Urban Property (Regulation) Ordinance
who held the last preceding letting of the house, shall be preferred
in the new letting to any other tenant who is not any ascendant or
descendant related to the landlord by consanguinity or affinity or
adoption or a brother or a sister of the landlord:
Cap. 16.
  Provided that such house was not already let on the date of the
enactment of this Ordinance, and provided further that, on notice
being given by the landlord to the last former tenant in accordance
with the provisions of section 1597 or 1598 of the Civil Code, the
last former tenant signifies his intention of availing himself of the
right of preference granted by this subsection within the time and in
the manner set forth in section 1596 of the Civil Code.
(6) If any person infringes or fails to comply with the
provisions of subsection (1) or (3) of this section, or if a landlord
commits the offence specified in subsection (2) (i), the offender
shall be guilty of an offence against this Ordinance, punishable as
laid down in section 14 of this Ordinance, except that the minimum
fine awardable shall be of forty liri.
Applications to the 
Board.
Amended by: 
I. 1957.5.
6. The landlord or the tenant may apply at any time to the
Board to determine the fair rent of the dwelling house concerned
(other than a scheme house) unless - 
(i) the fair rent of the dwelling house has already
been established by the Board; or
(ii) the provisional fair rent of an old house has been
acquiesced in by the landlord and the tenant in
accordance with subsection (1) (i) of section 5
and the period agreed upon in the tenancy
agreement is still current; or
(iii) proviso (i) of subsection (1) of section 7 is
applicable.
Excessive rents. 
Amended by: 
I. 1957.6.
7. (1) Where at any time after the commencement of this
Ordinance the rent of any dwelling house exceeds the fair rent as
determined by the Board or acquiesced in terms of subsection (1)
*Repealed by Act XXIX of 1980 (Chapter 289).
  6       CAP. 116. ħ         RENT RESTRICTION (DWELLING HOUSES) 
(i) of section 5, or agreed as provided in subsection (4) of that
section, the amount of such excess shall, notwithstanding any
agreement to the contrary whether made before or after the
commencement of this Ordinance, be irrecoverable from the tenant,
and, if it is paid by the tenant, shall be recoverable by him or by
any person claiming through him from the person to whom it was
paid or his heirs, and may, without prejudice to any other method of
recovery, be deducted from any rent or money due or subsequently
becoming due by the tenant to the landlord:
  Provided that:
Tenancy 
agreements with 
effect from 31st 
March, 1939, or 
from prior date.
(i) in the case of a dwelling house let at the
commencement of this Ordinance under a
tenancy agreement made on or before the 31st
March, 1939, or made  bona fide  after that date
but with effect retrospective to that date or to a
prior date, this subsection shall not operate to
render irrecoverable from the tenant or
recoverable by the tenant or any person claiming
through him, or deductible, any rent payable
under the tenancy agreement during the period
of tenancy established by that agreement;
Tenancy 
agreements with 
effect from 1st 
April, 1939, or 
from later date, 
made before 
enactment of this 
Ordinance.
(ii) in the case of a dwelling house let at the
commencement of this Ordinance under a
tenancy agreement made on or after the 1st
April, 1939, but not so that it should  bona fide
have effect retrospective to a prior date, this
subsection shall not operate to render
irrecoverable from the tenant or recoverable by
the tenant or any person claiming through him,
or deductible, any rent payable or paid under the
tenancy agreement up to the date of filing of the
requisite application in the registry of the Board,
but this limitation shall not in any case apply to
rent payable or paid in advance in respect of any
period in excess of three months. The further
payment of rent shall be governed by the
following subsection (2).
(2) When proviso (ii) of subsection (1) of section 7 applies, the
rent which next falls due after an application has been filed in the
registry of the Board shall be the fair rent provisionally established
under section 4; but if the Board makes any adjustment thereof,
such adjustment shall be retrospective to the day as from which that
provisional fair rent became payable.
(3) If any landlord knowingly receives any rent which is by this
Ordinance made irrecoverable by the landlord, he shall be guilty of
an offence against this Ordinance, and if a landlord is convicted of
any such offence the court in which the conviction is obtained may,
without prejudice to any other right which the tenant may have to
recover the rent overpaid, order the landlord to repay the same with
interest from the day of the order.
             RENT RESTRICTION (DWELLING HOUSES)  ġ CAP. 116.   7
Restriction on 
demand of 
premiums.
8. (1) A person shall not, as a condition of the grant, renewal,
or continuance of a tenancy of any dwelling house, require or
accept the payment of any premium or other like sum or the giving
of any consideration in addition to the rent, and where any such
payment or consideration shall be made or given after the
commencement of this Ordinance, the amount or value thereof shall
be recoverable by the person by whom it was made or given or by
his heirs.
(2) Any person after the commencement of this Ordinance
requiring any payment or the giving of any consideration in
contravention of this section, shall be guilty of an offence against
this Ordinance, and, if a person convicted of requiring or accepting
any payment or any consideration as aforesaid has received such
payment or consideration, the court in which the conviction is
obtained may order him to repay to the person from whom it was
received or to the heirs of that person, the amount or value of the
same with interest from the day on which it was received.
Dwelling houses 
let furnished. 
Amended by: 
XXIX.1947.5; 
V.1947.3.
9. (1) The provisions contained in this Ordinance shall apply
to any dwelling house let furnished, without any regard being had
to the furniture, and the difference between the rent so established
and the rent agreed upon between landlord and tenant shall be
deemed to be the rent of the furniture.
(2) Any tenant of a furnished dwelling house at his option may
at any time apply to the Board to establish the fair rent of the
furniture, provided that any adjustment of rent that may be decided
upon by the Board shall not be effective except as from the first due
day of rent falling after the tenant’s application has been filed; and
provided that the option so granted may not be availed of more than
once by the same tenant in respect of the same tenancy, whether as
originally agreed upon or as renewed from time to time.
(3) On such an application being made, the Board shall, in
every case, appoint an appraiser to value the net proceeds that
would probably accrue from a free sale at auction of the furniture.
The appraiser’s fee and outgoings shall be borne provisionally by
the tenant, over and above any fee that he may be required to pay
under section 10.
(4) The Board shall fix the fair rent of the furniture at fifteen
per centum  a year of the appraised value thereof:
  Provided that in no case shall such fair rent of the furniture
exceed -
(i) in the case of an old house in which no structural
alterations or additions not chargeable to the war
damage account have been effected after 31st
March, 1939, the fair rent of the house as
unfurnished, assessed in accordance with the
provisions of this Ordinance;
(ii) in the case of an old house in which structural
alterations or additions not chargeable to the war
damage account have been effected after 31st
March, 1939, the fair rent of the house as
  8       CAP. 116. ħ         RENT RESTRICTION (DWELLING HOUSES) 
unfurnished increased by seven  per centum  of the
increase of rent, if any, which the Board under
the provisions of this Ordinance may assess or
have assessed in view of those structural
alterations or additions;
(iii) in the case of a new house the fair rent of the
house as unfurnished assessed in accordance
with the provisions of this Ordinance increased
by seven  per centum :
  Provided further that in assessing the rent of a furnished house
the Board, at the request of the tenant and after hearing the
landlord, may at its discretion order that for purposes of
computation of the rent of the furniture no consideration shall be
taken of any one or more articles of furniture specified by it which
are neither reasonably necessary to the furnishing of the house nor
in keeping, with regard to quality and to commercial value, with the
greater part of the other articles of furniture in the same house; and
on such an order being made by the Board, the landlord shall have
the option to remove from the house in question at his own expense
and at any reasonable hour of which he shall give not less than
twenty-four hours’ notice in writing to the tenant the article or
articles not taken into consideration in connection with the
computation of the rent.
(5) Bearing in mind the extent to which the rent fixed under the
provisions of this section approximates or otherwise to the rent
previously paid or agreed upon, the Board shall determine whether
the fee and outgoings of the appraiser shall be borne finally by the
tenant or by the landlord or in specified proportions by both.
Cap. 69.
(6) The provisions of sections 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15 and 27 and
of subsection (2) of section 25 of the Reletting of Urban Property
(Regulation) Ordinance shall apply to dwelling houses let
furnished.
Fees on filing. 
Amended by: 
XXIX. 1947.6; 
XIII.1983.4,5. 
Cap. 69.
Cap.12.
10. The provisions contained in section 29 of the Reletting of
Urban Property (Regulation) Ordinance shall apply to an
application filed either by the landlord or by the tenant, but in
every case of a dwelling house let furnished the registry fee on
filing the application shall be of one lira and fifty cents where the
rent of the dwelling house let furnished does not exceed five liri a
month or of two liri where the rent of the dwelling house let
furnished exceeds five liri a month, and in either case there shall be
paid in addition the transport fees for the service of the application,
in accordance with the appropriate Tariffs annexed to the Code of
Organization and Civil Procedure.
Brokerage. 
Added by: 
XXIX. 1947.7.
11. (1) Brokerage in respect of the letting of a dwelling house,
whether furnished or unfurnished, shall not in any case exceed one
moiety of a month’s rent of the house as fixed by the Board.
(2) Any agreement whereby a person, under any title, directly
or indirectly, agrees to pay by way of brokerage any sum of money
or other consideration in excess of the sum assessed under the
provisions of the last preceding subsection shall be null and void in
             RENT RESTRICTION (DWELLING HOUSES)  ġ CAP. 116.   9
respect of such excess. 
(3) Any person who, whether knowingly or by mistake, pays
any such excess shall be entitled to claim the refund of such excess
notwithstanding any agreement, any undertaking or any other law
to the contrary.
(4) An action under subsection (3) of this section shall be
barred by the lapse of five years from the date when the payment
was made.
Limitation of 
claims by tenant.
 12. Any claim by a tenant against the landlord under the
provisions of this Ordinance shall be barred by the lapse of one
year from the date of termination of the tenancy, or from the date
on which this Ordinance ceases to be in force, whichever shall be
the earlier date.
Registration of 
deed or grant. 
Added by: 
I.1957.7. 
Amended by: 
XIV. 1958.2; 
XXV. 1962.5.
13. The Minister for the time being in charge of the War
Damage Commission or some other person from time to time
delegated by him in that behalf shall, as soon as practicable after
the execution of any deed under subsection (4) of section 5 of this
Ordinance or, as the case may be, after any grant is made by the
Government under any housing scheme, cause an entry of such
deed or grant containing such particulars as the Minister may from
time to time determine to be registered at the Land Valuation
Office and the Land Valuation Officer shall register such entry
accordingly.
General penalty. 
Amended by: 
L.N. 46 of 1965; 
XIII. 1983.5.
14. (1) Any person who shall be guilty of an offence against
this Ordinance shall be liable to a fine ( multa ) of from twenty liri to
two hundred liri, or to imprisonment for not longer than three
months, or to both such fine and such imprisonment:
  Provided that the courts shall not apply the penalty of
imprisonment, otherwise than on failure to pay a fine, until after the
date of a resolution to that effect passed by the House of
Representatives in respect of offences committed thereafter.
(2) Where the offence is committed by a company, association
of persons or any other corporate body, each person who, at the
time of the commission of the offence, was a director or officer of
such company, association or corporate body, shall be deemed to be
guilty of that offence unless he proves that the offence was
committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due
diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.
Jurisdiction and 
limitation of 
prosecution. 
Amended by. 
XXII. 1976.4; 
XI. 1977.2; 
VIII. 1990.3 . 
Cap. 9.
15. (1) Any offence against this Ordinance shall be triable by
the Court of Magistrates in accordance with the provisions of the
Criminal Code:
  Provided that the prosecutor shall have a right of appeal to the
Court of Criminal Appeal in each of the cases set out in section 413
of the Criminal Code and also whenever in his opinion the sentence
containing a conviction is not adequate.
(2) Whenever the chairman of the Board sees reason to believe
that an offence against this Ordinance has been committed by any
party to proceedings before the Board, he shall thereupon cause the
suspected offence to be reported to the Commissioner of Police. 
  10       CAP. 116. ħ         RENT RESTRICTION (DWELLING HOUSES) 
(3) Proceedings in respect of an offence against this Ordinance
may be commenced at any time within two years from the day
when the offence was committed.
Effect of 
Ordinance.
Cap. 69.
16. The provisions of this Ordinance shall be in addition to
and, except where inconsistent therewith, not in derogation of the
provisions of the Reletting of Urban Property (Regulation)
Ordinance.
Operativeness of 
this Ordinance. 
Added by: 
XXXI.1995.3.
* 17. (1) The foregoing provisions of this Ordinance shall not
apply to the lease of any dwelling house entered   into on or after the
1st June, 1995.
(2) For the purposes of this section -
( a ) lease includes a sublease; and
( b ) the renewal of a lease on or after the 1st June, 1995,
(whether such renewal be conventional, legal,
customary or otherwise) shall not be deemed to be a
lease entered into on or after the 1st June, 1995.
*Section 5 of Act XXXI of 1995  inter alia  provides: 
5.   Nothing in section 17 of the Rent Restriction (Dwelling Houses) Ordinance shall be
deemed to restrict any of the powers of the Director of Social Housing under the
Housing Act, (Cap. 125) and the provisions of the Ordinance as in force immediately
before the coming into force of this Act (1st June, 1995) shall, in as far as applicable,
continue to apply with regard to the relationship between the said Director and any
owner of premises in possession of the said Director on that date, or between the said
Director and any person legally in occupation of such premises. The provisions of the
said Ordinance as aforesaid shall also continue to regulate the relationship between
any person in occupation of such premises and the owner thereof.
