Right of reply: Hal Gelmus developers deny giving Galdes preferential treatment

Out of the 75 properties sold at the Ħal Gelmus development, the majority – 43 units – were sold at a lower price per square metre than the penthouse purchased by Minister Roderick Galdes. Four of these were other penthouses.

The actual selling price data proves that Minister Galdes did not receive preferential treatment.

Across the development, prices ranged widely depending on factors such as size, layout and orientation, from €1,004/m² at the lowest to €2,883/m² at the highest.

Minister Galdes purchased the third smallest units in the entire project - a four-room 84m² penthouse - at €1,487/m², paying €125,000 for the apartment and €15,000 for a garage.

This puts him at the midpoint mark in terms of price per square metre paid. 

Fifteen of the properties bought at a lower price were sold in 2025 under similar reservation agreements, confirming that the Minister was not given any preferential treatment there anyway.

Therefore, any accusations that the Minister was given special treatment are malicious and unfounded.

The attempt to link this minor property sale to a leasing of units to the Housing Authority is also completely unjustified and further proves that this story is based on false pretenses. 

In that case, we simply participated in a government scheme that is open to all property owners to lease their properties to the State for a 10-year term at very low prices and profit margins. We did not require, not did we receive, any preferential treatment in this regard. We simply participated in a government programme which has over 1,300 properties registered in it and can be taken advantage of by every other property owner on the island. The reality is that few owners would agree to such low rental rates but for a company like ours the guarantee of income from one client over 10-years was considered a suitable option in our ongoing efforts to diversify and strengthen our financial model. 

The fact that this is a public scheme that requires no special treatment nor ministerial intervention shows that the property sale to Roderick Galdes back in 2021 had nothing to do with the participation in this public scheme.