Government commercial premises will be eligible for a 50-year census according to a new scheme announced by the Minister for Lands and Implementation of the Electoral Program Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi.
In a news conference in Bormla, the minister recalled that this had been promised in the electoral manifesto and in the 2024 Budget.
After a pilot scheme was introduced in 2015 for the conversion of commercial leases into fences for shops in Valletta, it has now been decided that this scheme will be extended to the rest of the country with updated conditions.
“The government is launching this scheme to give commercial places a more stable and long-term title with the aim of incentivizing more investment in the private sector in these establishments,” stressed the minister.
He announced that the Legal Notice about the scheme is being published today itself and details about who will be able to apply for this scheme. Among others, persons who, on the day the regulations come into force, have a valid emphythetic concession recognized by the Lands Authority can apply. They can be persons who have a valid commercial lease granted by the same Authority or a property that has the title of casa-bottega. Anyone who has an agreement to operate government commercial property can also apply.
With the Legal Notice a schedule is being published that lists which are those commercial properties of the government that will be accepted to apply under this scheme. Among these we find those that according to the order known as Use Classes Order of the Planning Authority fall into categories 2B, 2C, 3A and 3B, 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D, 51 and 6A. These classes include non-residential institutions, educational institutions, tourist accommodation, hotels, offices, retail shops, food and beverage establishments, and buildings related to light industry and related industry. -storage or distribution.
There are also properties that for the purpose of this legal notice will be considered commercial such as amusement arcades, halls, car or taxi rental service, diving schools, food take-aways, complexes for -washing or cleaning clothes or fabrics, bakeries, conference centres, supermarkets, bingo halls and shops selling firearms.
The census will be worked at the rate of 2% per year on the value of the property and will be revised from time to time. Through this scheme, everyone who runs a commercial place owned by the government will have the opportunity to plan in the long term and will have more possibilities of how to manage this commercial activity.
During the news conference, the Chief Executive Officer of the Lands Authority, Robert Vella, also spoke and gave technical details about the Legal Notice and its implementation. Also present was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Carlos Tabone.
