Short lets in a block you look after.
The 2026 rules give you a letter you are owed and a person you can ring at any hour. They give you no veto, and it is worth knowing both halves of that before the first conversation about it.
A letter, and a name that answers.
- Written notification, on issuance
- A licensee in a condominium notifies you in writing once the licence is issued, and copies the MTA. If a unit in your block is being let and you have never had that letter, it has not been sent.
- A person on twenty-four hours
- Every licensed short let has to name a person who can be reached at any hour to take complaints and deal with problems, and keep those details current. That name and number are on the sign at the unit's own door.
- No approval to give
- The proposal that would have required a majority at the general meeting was dropped before the regulations were made. The notification is not a request.
- The common parts are still yours
- The unit's own sign goes on or next to its own door. Anything in the common parts, a lobby board or a building directory, is an agreement with you under the Condominium Act.
What we have read so far.
The Condominium Act (Cap. 398) has been in force since 1 July 2001 and was last amended in 2007. A meeting of the condomini appoints the administrator, contributions are paid through the administrator where there is one, and the administrator acts for the condomini in the matters the Act names.
That is as far as we have read it. The common parts, the majorities a decision needs, and how a short let sits against the building's own rules are not on this page, because we have not read them properly yet. When we have, this page will grow and will say when we read it.
Questions administrators ask.
- Does a short let in my block have to tell me?
- Yes. A licensee whose premises are in a condominium notifies the block administrator in writing once the licence is issued, and sends a copy to the Malta Tourism Authority. It is a notification rather than a request for permission.
- Can the block refuse to allow a short let?
- No. A 2024 proposal requiring majority approval at the condominium general meeting was dropped from the final text of L.N. 92 of 2026. Residents have no veto, and the notification is what the licensee owes you.
- Where does the sign for a short let go in a block?
- Sixth Schedule Standard 1.1.2 says that for a short let forming part of a condominium the sign may be affixed to the exterior of the unit, including on or adjacent to the entrance door of the individual unit. Anything in the common parts is yours to agree to under the Condominium Act.
- Can a noise or waste complaint about a short let reach its licence?
- Yes, without the MTA inspecting anything. The MTA may suspend or withdraw a licence for breaches relating to noise, waste management or health established by a final court decision or by another authority enforcement notice. A council or LESA acting on rubbish, or the police acting on noise, can produce the finding the MTA acts on.
For block administrators