Building permits issued in 2024 leave Malta with 4,400 parking shortfall

In 2024, the Planning Authority approved 1,466 permits, which led to a shortage of 4,387 parking spaces.

Developers paid a total of €16,176,304 in lieu of these unprovided spaces, contributing to either the Urban Improvement Fund or the Commuters Parking Provision System (CPPS), both administered by the Planning Authority (PA).

The parking provision refers to a system that allows developers to pay a financial contribution instead of providing the full number of parking spaces required by planning regulations. When a development project cannot include all the necessary on-site parking,  due to space limits, design constraints, or other factors, the developer pays a fee to the Planning Authority.

These figures, obtained by MaltaToday from the PA, indicate a decline from the record 8,000 unprovided parking spaces in 2018 — although this also reflects a sharp drop in permits for new dwellings since the peak of the building boom. However, the trend also comes at an environmental cost, as the shift to basement parking has increased excavation and construction waste without contributing to a shift towards public transportation.

St Paul’s Bay — a relatively modern locality where underground parking is not constrained by heritage concerns — recorded the highest number of uncatered for parking spaces (309). Other localities with major parking shortfalls included Birkirkara (277), Gżira (203), Msida (190) San Ġiljan (189), Qormi (185), Sliema (181), Marsa (142), Żabbar (136), Marsaskala (134) Fgura (130) and Mosta (125).

In Gozo, the shortage was most pronounced in Rabat and Żebbuġ, where 111 and 106 spaces respectively were not provided in 2024. Overall, 516 parking spaces were not catered for in Gozo — 12% of the national total. Localities in the ninth and tenth districts together accounted for over 1,000 spaces, or 23% of the total.

Comparison with 2018

Comparable PA statistics from 2018 show 2,501 permits failed to meet demand for 8,021 parking spaces. However, this coincided with a record 12,829 dwelling permits that year, compared to 8,716 in 2024.

The number of permits involving a parking shortfall has also fallen steadily — from 2,501 in 2018, to 2,380 in 2019, to 1,549 in 2020, and 1,466 last year. 

The reduction, however, was not universal. In Gozo, for instance, the number of unprovided parking spaces rose from 392 in 2018 to 516 in 2024.  Some localities like Marsa have also registered a notable increase.

Planning sources attribute this decline partly to higher charges for unprovided parking spaces introduced in June 2018. However, the number of unprovided spaces remains substantial, and Malta is still dealing with the legacy of earlier permits without parking. The shift to basement garages, meanwhile, continues to generate large volumes of excavation waste and increased nuisance for residents.  Moreover, while the parking shortage created by some developments increases the number of people looking for free on street parking spots, developments incorporating parking spaces nurture car dependency.

How the PA uses parking funds

The CPPS and UIF funds are financed through developer fees paid when required parking facilities — such as underground garages — cannot be provided on site. Fees also apply when a change of building use increases parking demand (for instance, converting a shop to a restaurant), when additional floors are built, or when outdoor catering areas take up parking spaces.

Funds can finance a wide range of projects: parking facilities, public transport initiatives, sustainable mobility schemes, gardens, landscaping, street furniture, lighting, restoration, and accessibility improvements.

Since June 2018, developers have paid €2,500 for each of the first two unprovided spaces; €6,000 per space from the third to ninth; and €9,000 per space thereafter. This replaced 1990s rates that charged €2,096 per space in CPPS areas and €1,164.68 in UIF localities.

This increase has resulted in more funds available for urban improvements. Despite the sharp decrease in the number of permits creating a parking shortfall, contributions to the PA’s funds have increased from € 10 million in 2018 to €16 million in 2024. 

By the end of 2024, the localities with the highest available balances were led by St Julian’s (€5.68 million), followed by Gżira (€2.92 million), Rabat Gozo (€2.58 million), St Paul’s Bay (€2.36 million), and Naxxar (€1.95 million). The national total stands at €58 million.

The St Paul’s Bay case study

St Paul’s Bay saw 70 permits with parking under-provision in 2024, resulting in 309 missing spaces and €1.15 million deposited in its Urban Improvement Fund. 

Mayor Censu Galea described the system as “broken”, arguing that it worsened parking problems without empowering councils to fix them. He said the council cannot use the money to develop a new car park because “nobody in his right senses is ready to invest in it, knowing that people are used not to paying for parking and prefer to use limited on-street parking which is free.” Galea added that “simply put, nobody is ready to build a new car park if residents are not willing to pay for it — otherwise the investment will never be recovered.”  

He also lamented that the money cannot be used for other purposes such as improving pavements, while a substantial amount is being saved for a new civic centre. Galea argued that the system should be reformed to allow councils to use UIF funding for a wider range of interventions.

The mayor further warned that the current system, which lets developers “buy their way out” of providing parking spaces, is contributing to congestion as residents spend more time searching for parking spaces. Even when garages are included in new developments, they are often sold separately from the apartments, meaning some new residents still rely on on-street parking. The problem is compounded by the fact that St Paul’s Bay has over 40,000 cars registered in the locality.

Kamra tal-Periti calls for reform

Kamra tal-Periti president André Pizzuto reiterated the chamber’s call to scrap the system, repeating the criticism first made in 2018 when contribution rates were raised. The Chamber had warned that the Planning Authority’s approach to parking provision “risks worsening Malta’s traffic and environmental problems rather than solving them,” citing research that shows how providing abundant parking encourages private car use and discourages public transport.

Instead, the KTP looks at models in other countries where “developers have a maximum parking allowance” and are obliged to contribute to the costs of new or improved bus services to serve new developments.

The Chamber argues that “when parking is freely available or integrated as a standard part of new developments, it acts as a powerful disincentive for people to shift to buses, cycling or walking.” Instead of insisting on minimum parking requirements, the Authority “could have explored the introduction of maximum standards — a strategy increasingly adopted in other European cities to limit car dependency.”

Moreover, there is little evidence garages in new developments are being effectively used for parking, as many remain unsold or vacant, inflating property prices and land use inefficiency.

Rather than reducing car ownership or promoting green transport, the KTP warns that, “the current system is incentivising developers to dig deeper and construct larger underground car parks,” generating massive amounts of construction waste that often end up in landfills.

“Instead of solving parking shortages, the system has fostered a cycle of car dependency, traffic congestion, poor air quality and declining urban liveability.” The chamber calls for a decisive shift from policies that accommodate cars to those that promote sustainable mobility — reducing parking supply, improving public transport, and reclaiming space for people rather than vehicles.

System under continuous review - PA

Asked for comment, a PA spokesperson said the Authority periodically reviews the Commuted Parking Payment mechanism and its procedures for fund disbursement—most recently in 2022—to encourage the use of PA funds for greening projects, Green and Blue Infrastructure, and social support, while still allocating funds for new parking facilities or initiatives supporting a shift to sustainable transport.

The spokesperson added that the requirement in policy P18 of the Design Policy, Guidance and Standards 2015 (DC15) — to require contributions to a CPPS/UIF when full parking provision is physically, technically, or otherwise undesirable — “remains valid today.” He noted that “as with many planning and transport tools, this works best as part of a broader transport policy mix, and its effectiveness is therefore assessed within the overall context of the national transport strategy.”