Developers are against rent law, claim it curtails freedom of contract with tenants

The Malta Developers Association has criticised the rent law reform for ‘diminishing the freedom of contract’ between landlords and tenants of residential properties.

“As much as the objectives of the law are positive in ensuring standards of fairness, clarity and predictability in contractual relations, its effects must not be allowed to negatively affect the feelgood factor of the industry and the appetite for more investment in this sector, especially in high end properties,” the MDA read.

The MDA said the new law will have negative effects on both tenants and landlords and called on landlords to seek ‘reliable legal advice’ before entering into new contractual agreements.

The MDA said it was confident the government “will carry out more fine tuning” to address any negative effects and said it was pleased that several suggestions it had proposed were taken into consideration.