What you may check, and what you may not ask.

Work down it with the applicant.

Ticking is only for your own place in the list. Nothing is sent anywhere and nothing is kept when you close the page.

• Their name and identity documentThe contract names the parties, and the inventory is signed by them. A tenant from outside Malta gives a passport number. You are recording who signed, not deciding whether to let to them.Cap. 604 art. 6(1)
• The Register of DefaultersThe Housing Authority keeps a register of tenants and landlords who defaulted on their obligations, and a landlord may ask it whether a prospective tenant is on it, through the Authority's online portal. It runs from 1 September 2024, so nothing before that date is in it. It works in both directions: a tenant can find a landlord there too.Housing Authority, its own FAQ
• How many people will live thereThe Authority asks this at registration and may refuse a registration that exceeds the occupancy limit. Its own example is a two-bedroom apartment capped at four residents, whatever the size of the rooms.Cap. 604 art. 4, and the Authority's FAQ
• What they will use the place forThe agreed use is one of the seven things the contract must state, and it is also what decides which Act you are under. Somebody living there is a private residential lease. Somebody on holiday is not.Cap. 604 arts. 3(2)(b) and 6(1)(b)
• How long they want it forA long lease cannot be shorter than a year, and an agreement for less is deemed to be a year. Agreeing six months and discovering that later is worse than knowing now.Cap. 604 art. 8
• The deposit, agreed and written downThe amount has to be stated in the contract. Deposit retention is the dispute the Adjudicating Panel sees most, and the two things that settle it are the figure in the contract and the signed inventory.Cap. 604 art. 6(1)(f)
• The inventory, with photographsSigned by all parties, with a short description against each photograph, and required even when the place is let unfurnished. Take it on the day, before anybody moves in.Cap. 604 art. 6(1)(g)
• The meter readings on the dayNot required by the Act, and the one number nobody can reconstruct once an argument has started. Ours is on the inventory sheet.Ours

Questions before letting.

Can a landlord check a tenant against a blacklist in Malta?

The Housing Authority keeps a Register of Defaulters, and its own guidance says prospective landlords have access to it and may ask whether a prospective tenant is on it through the Authority's online portal. A tenant is added when a landlord wins before the Adjudicating Panel and formally asks for it. It covers defaulting landlords as well as tenants, and it starts from 1 September 2024.

What can a landlord lawfully ask a prospective tenant in Malta?

The things the contract and the registration need: who they are and their identity document, how many people will live there, what they will use the place for, how long they want it, the deposit, and the inventory. Asked about deeper mandatory screening, the Housing Authority answered that privacy law significantly constrains what can be done and that it is committed to seeing that all screening happens within the framework established by law.

How many people can live in a rented flat in Malta?

The Housing Authority asks how many people will live there when a lease is registered and may refuse a registration that exceeds the occupancy limit. Its own worked example is a two-bedroom apartment limited to four residents, and it says the legislation addresses the number of bedrooms rather than the size of the rooms.

Can a landlord refuse a tenant for having children?

No. Refusing somebody because of family status, nationality, religion or disability is unlawful discrimination, and nothing on this page is a reason to refuse anybody. The checks here are the documents the lease itself needs and the one register the Authority maintains.