Malta: Authorities set to clamp down on unlicensed holiday apartments rent
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Malta Today reveals that authorities are set to clamp down on unlicensed holiday apartments rented out to tourists. Industry sources told the paper that an initial estimate of 3,000 of such properties is considered conservative.
The report says that “Maltese authorities are set to clamp down on owners of holiday apartments who continue to rent out their premises without a licence, MaltaToday has learnt. Work has been underway for some time for the Malta Tourism Authority to be able to address the problem, which sources said was far greater than initially believed. They described estimates of 3,000 unlicensed operators as “conservative”.
The report adds that “the rise of online platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com combined with Malta’s ever-increasing tourist numbers, including during the winter months, has provided apartments owners with the opportunity to enter a market they might have previously been unable to. But as the number of people opting to stay in holiday apartments increases, so too have calls for there to be a proper enforcement of regulations. Hoteliers and law-abiding operators have long complained that a lack of enforcement was allowing some to gain an unfair advantage by avoiding taxes by operating without a licence.”
