Buying Property in Malta as a Foreigner

Foreign buyers can purchase property in Malta, but the rules differ depending on nationality, residency status, and whether the property is a primary residence, a second property, or located in a Special Designated Area (SDA). Work through the questions below in order - most buyers land on an answer within three questions.

Can you buy? Start here

Is the property inside a Special Designated Area? (Portomaso, Tigné Point, SmartCity, and around a dozen other named developments - see the full list.) If yes: you can buy, regardless of nationality, with no AIP permit, no cap on the number of properties, and no minimum value threshold. SDA status is granted development-by-development, not town-wide, so confirm it for the specific property with your notary rather than assuming based on the address.

If the property is not in an SDA, keep going:

Are you an EU citizen?

• Yes, and you’ve lived in Malta for 5+ continuous years: buy without restriction, same as a Maltese citizen.
• Yes, but under the 5-year threshold: you can buy one primary residence without a permit. A second property needs an AIP permit.
• No (non-EU national): you generally need an AIP permit for any property, including a primary residence.

What an AIP permit actually means in practice

• You can generally hold only one property under an AIP permit, and it must be for your own residential use - it cannot be rented out. Buying to let as a non-EU or under-threshold EU buyer means either buying inside an SDA, or structuring the purchase differently - take advice before assuming a standard AIP-permitted property works as a rental investment.
• Minimum property values apply: €220,000 for an apartment or maisonette, €375,000 for a villa or other property (2026 figures, revised periodically).
• The permit costs roughly €233 and is typically processed by your notary alongside the promise of sale, commonly cited as taking around 35 days - build that margin into your completion timeline.
• You’ll need to show the purchase funds originate from abroad and have been transferred into a Maltese bank account.

Full detail: AIP permit guide.

Does buying give you residence rights?

No. This is the single most common thing foreign buyers assume incorrectly. Owning property in Malta does not, by itself, entitle you to live here, and it doesn’t come with a visa or residence permit attached. If long-term residence is part of your plan, that runs through a separate process - see the Global Residence Programme or Permanent Residence Programme guides, both of which do have their own property-related qualifying conditions, but are legally distinct from the AIP/SDA rules above.

Renting out a property you buy as a foreigner

Whether you can let out the property depends on how you bought it, not just that you bought it:

• SDA purchase: no restriction - rent it out as you wish, subject to normal renting-out rules.
• AIP-permitted purchase: cannot be rented out - it must be for your own residential use.
• EU citizen, primary residence under the 5-year threshold: intended as your own residence, not an investment let.

This is why most foreign buy-to-let investment in Malta concentrates inside SDA developments - it’s the one route with no letting restriction attached.

Special Designated Areas

Certain developments - including Portomaso in St Julian’s, Tigné Point and Fort Cambridge in Sliema, and SmartCity in Kalkara - are designated SDAs, where both EU and non-EU buyers can purchase without an AIP permit and without restriction on the number of properties owned. See the full Special Designated Areas guide for what each development actually is, not just that it’s an SDA.