Finding a flat or a room in Malta: where to look, what to sign, what to refuse

A room in Malta is found in a week and a flat in a month, if you know where to look and what to refuse. The lease you sign is also a permit document, so the shortcuts that save €50 a month can cost you a renewal. Here is the practical order.

Rooms

• Where: Facebook groups for rooms and flatshares in Malta, the two or three big property portals’ room sections, and colleagues. Most first-year newcomers live this way.
• Price: roughly €450 to €700 a month in late 2026, more in Sliema and St Julian’s, less in the south and north.
• How it works: you usually deal with the landlord or the lead tenant directly. Visit before paying. Check: your own key, a lock on the door, the water heater, air conditioning, whether bills are included and how they are split.
• Occupancy: two residents per bedroom is the legal maximum, ten per property. A room with three beds is a breach, and a sign of an employer-run flat you should not be in.
• Paper: a written contract naming you, the room, the rent, the deposit and the dates, registered with the Housing Authority. Identità wants the registration for your permit. The “Add lessee” function lets a landlord add you to an existing registered lease.

Flats

• Where: the property portals, agents, and the same Facebook groups.
• Price: one-bedroom from around €700 in the north and south, €800 to €1,100 central, €1,000 to €1,500 and up in Sliema and St Julian’s. Two bedrooms add €200 to €400.
• Agents: licensed estate agents commonly charge the tenant a fee for a long let, often quoted as half a month’s rent plus VAT. Ask before viewing. For a room there is usually no agent.
• Deposit: one month is the norm; two is sometimes asked. The deposit is optional for the landlord but must be declared in the contract and the registration, and “0” if none.
• Lease: one year is standard, with a six-month lock-in, one month’s notice after that, and a cap of 5% on rent increases at renewal. The landlord must give three months’ notice if the lease will not be renewed.

The paperwork, in order

1. Visit the flat. Photograph every room, the meters and any damage, with the date showing.
2. Read the contract: names, address, rent, deposit, dates, who pays which bills, inventory.
3. Pay the deposit and first month against a receipt, by bank transfer where you can.
4. Landlord registers the lease with the Housing Authority within 30 days; the automated confirmation email goes to you too. Chase it.
5. For the permit: the registration confirmation, the Lease Agreement Professional Attestation Form stamped by a lawyer or notary, and the contract itself.

What to refuse

• “No contract, cash only.” No registration means no permit paper and no deposit protection.
• “Deposit now to hold the room, viewing later.” Scam, every time.
• A room in a flat with more people than bedrooms times two.
• A lease that forbids registration or says you “accept no registration”.
• Rent in a currency other than euro, or to a foreign account.

“No foreigners”

Some adverts say it, more landlords think it. It is discrimination, and you can report it to the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality, but in the moment the practical answer is volume: apply to many, let your employer vouch for you, bring your contract and payslips to the viewing, offer to pay by standing order. Landlords are afraid of unpaid rent and overcrowding; show them neither will happen.

Electricity and water

Bills come from the national utility, often through the landlord. Summer air conditioning doubles them. Agree in writing whether bills are included, and if not, read the meter together on day one.

Check this at the source

• Housing Authority FAQ: lock-in, notice, 5% cap, deposit, occupancy, Adjudicating Panel. https://housingauthority.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/FAQ-English-with-template.pdf
• Housing Authority contact and rent registration line. https://housingauthority.gov.mt/contact/
• Identità checklist: lease, Housing Authority approval, attestation form. https://identita.gov.mt/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Checklist-New-Application-for-Single-Permit-KEI.pdf