How Much Notice Must a Landlord Give in Malta?

A long lease in Malta does not simply end on the date printed in the contract. It ends on that date only if the landlord told the tenant, at least three months earlier, by registered letter, that it will not be renewed. Say nothing and the law renews the lease for another full year, on the same terms.

That single rule decides most of what a landlord can and cannot do about timing, and it is the one most templates still get wrong. Here is what Cap. 604 and the Civil Code actually require, as amended by Act XX of 2024 and in force since 1 September 2024.

Three months, by registered letter

Article 9(1) of the Private Residential Leases Act (Cap. 604) says a private residential lease ceases to have effect on the expiration of its term, whether that term is conventional, legal or judicial, provided that the lessor gives notice to the lessee at least three months before by registered letter.

The proviso that follows sets the standard of proof, and it is generous to the landlord: to prove the obligation was met it is enough to show that the registered letter was sent within the stipulated time and to the correct address. Not that the tenant read it, not that they signed for it. Sent, in time, to the right address.

The form matters as much as the deadline. A message, an email or a conversation in the stairwell is not a registered letter, and Article 9 does not offer an alternative. Three months before the end of the term is also a floor, not a target: nothing stops a landlord sending it earlier, and the earlier it goes the less room there is for an argument about dates.

Miss it and the lease renews itself for a year

Article 9(2) is blunt. If the lessor does not serve the lessee with a notice of termination within the specified time, the lease is deemed to have been renewed for a further period of one year. A proviso adds that in the absence of a notice of termination, the lease shall continue to be renewed. Not once: every year, until a notice is finally served in time.

This is automatic. Nobody has to sign anything, no fee is due, and the landlord does not get to argue that the tenant knew perfectly well the lease was ending. A year of occupation, at the old rent, is the price of a missed deadline.

The Housing Authority applies the same rule inside its own portal. Where a renewal submission needs corrections, the notification gives seven days to fix them, and it has to be done before the original termination date. Miss that and, in the Authority's own words, the agreement is automatically renewed for another period of one year with the exact same conditions as stipulated in Article 9(2). If you would rather renew deliberately than by default, the express renewal agreement is the mechanism for it.

A landlord cannot end a long lease early just because they want to

Article 9(5) closes the obvious workaround: it is not permissible for a lessor to give any notice of termination with the aim of terminating the agreement before the period imposed by law or stipulated in the agreement, saving for articles 1573 and 1574 of the Civil Code. So the three-month notice is a notice of non-renewal at the end of the term. It is not a three-month eviction notice a landlord can serve in month four of a twelve-month lease.

Article 1573 of the Civil Code (Cap. 16) is the first of the two exceptions, and it is narrower than most landlords assume. It says it is not lawful for the lessor to dissolve the contract on the ground that he desires the house for his own habitation, unless the right to do so has been expressly stipulated. Where it was stipulated, a proviso added in 2024 sets the notice for private residential leases at three months by registered letter. No clause in the contract, no right, however genuine the need.

Selling the property does not end the lease

The second exception is Article 1574, and it points the other way from what people expect. If the lessor sells the thing let, or alienates it in any other manner, the buyer cannot dissolve the lease unless the seller reserved that power in the contract of lease. A sale with no such clause leaves the lease running, with the buyer as the new landlord.

Where the clause does exist, Article 1575 governs how the buyer uses it, and its proviso mirrors Article 1573: in the case of private residential leases, notice must be given at least three months before, by registered letter. Three months is the constant across all of it.

Rent arrears and breaches follow a different route

None of the above is about a tenant who has stopped paying. That is Article 1570 of the Civil Code, which allows dissolution where either party fails to perform an obligation, with a specific procedure for rent: for urban, residential and commercial tenements, where the lessee fails to pay punctually, the contract may be terminated only after the lessor has called upon the lessee by judicial letter and the lessee still fails to pay within fifteen days of notification.

A judicial letter is filed in court, not posted. And the fast route does not help here: Article 23(2) gives the Adjudicating Panel exclusive jurisdiction over private residential lease disputes up to 5,000 euros, but it lists rental and utility arrears and compensation for occupation beyond the expiry date while expressly excluding claims that involve the termination of the lease. Ending the lease is a matter for the courts; the Panel handles the money.

What the tenant has to do once notice arrives

The tenant's side of Article 9 is often missed. Under Article 9(4), if the landlord does not serve a notice of termination in time but the tenant still decides to leave on the date stipulated in the agreement, the tenant must give the landlord at least one month's notice by registered letter. The same send-it-in-time-to-the-right-address proof applies.

In other words, a missed landlord deadline does not automatically trap the tenant for another year: it gives the tenant a choice. Stay, on the renewed lease, or leave on the original end date with a month's written notice. Once the lease has tacitly renewed, Article 11(6) then locks the tenant in for the first three months of the renewal period, after which one month's notice by registered letter is enough. The lock-in that applies at the start of the original lease is a different clock, explained in our guide to di fermo.

Short leases end on their own date

A short private residential lease is a six-month category reserved for specific situations: non-resident workers on assignments under six months, non-resident students on short courses, residents needing a temporary alternative home, and similar cases. It is not just a short contract.

For those, Article 10 says the lease ceases by operation of Article 1566 of the Civil Code, which ends a letting on the expiration of the agreed term without either party having to give notice at all. The tenant still gets a withdrawal right under Article 12: no exit in the first month, then any time with one week's notice by registered letter.

Then tell the Housing Authority

Serving the notice is only half of it. The registration has to be closed too, and the portal asks for evidence. In the termination flow on rentregistration.mt the termination date is filled in automatically from the contract, and the landlord uploads the termination notice that was sent to the tenant. All parties get a notification of the request, and another once the registration is terminated on its termination date.

Ending the lease early by agreement is a separate process, called deregistration, and it needs a letter signed by every party to the original contract carrying the registration reference number, the property address, the names of all lessors and lessees, the deregistration date and the signatures. The Authority is explicit that it takes no responsibility for the termination of the lease registration: getting the paperwork right is the landlord's job. What happens when a lease never made it into the register in the first place is covered in what happens if a lease is not registered in Malta.

The rule in short

• A long lease ends on its expiry date only if the landlord sent a registered letter at least three months before.
• No notice in time means automatic renewal for one year, on the same terms, and again every year after that.
• Proof means proof of sending in time to the correct address, not proof of receipt.
• A landlord cannot use the notice to cut a lease short mid-term; the only exceptions are the Civil Code's own-habitation clause, which must be expressly stipulated, and a sale where the power was reserved, both with three months by registered letter.
• Rent arrears go through a judicial letter and fifteen days, not through Article 9, and the Adjudicating Panel cannot terminate a lease.
• If the landlord misses the deadline and the tenant still wants to leave on the original date, the tenant gives one month's notice by registered letter.
• Short private residential leases end on their own date with no notice required from either side.
• Terminate the registration on the Housing Authority portal and upload the notice you sent.