Opening doors: The essential guide to buying your first property
With first-time buyers in mind, Housing Authority CEO Matthew Zerafa and Digitalisation, Legal, and Communications Executive Head Dr Brian Micallef have launched a guide that simplifies homeownership in Malta. The guide offers expert advice and essential tools to help young people navigate their most significant financial commitment.
When Sarah, a 28-year-old teacher from Mosta, started looking for her first home, she didn't know where to start. Her experience is far from unique. Many young people in Malta share the same ambition but feel lost navigating the complexities of purchasing their first property. Stories like these inspired the Housing Authority to create a guide that demystifies the process and supports first-time buyers every step of the way.
Housing Authority CEO Matthew Zerafa
Digitalisation, Legal, and Communications Executive Head Dr Brian Micallef
Launched during the Public Service Expo, this guide marks a crucial step in supporting young people as they make one of the most significant financial and personal commitments in their lives—purchasing their first home.
For many, this first step can feel both daunting and overwhelming. With so many factors to consider—financial planning, legal procedures, property choices, and loan applications—it's no surprise that the process can seem intimidating. Our ongoing conversations with young adults and prospective buyers have made it increasingly clear that while homeownership remains a strong aspiration for many, many don't know where to start. The lack of accessible, step-by-step guidance often leaves them uncertain and unprepared for such a significant life decision.
That's precisely why the Housing Authority has created this guide — to help bridge that gap. This user-friendly resource walks first-time buyers through each essential stage of the home-buying process. Structured into eight straightforward chapters, it covers everything from assessing your financial situation and setting a realistic budget to viewing properties, navigating the bank loan application process, signing the promise of sale, completing the final contract, and finally, moving in and settling into your new home.
In addition, the guide includes tips on what to watch out for, answers to commonly asked questions throughout the journey, and information on the schemes offered by different entities that first-time buyers may be eligible for. It also provides practical tips for settling into a new home—a key step that is often overlooked.
Transparency is a core value behind this initiative. Purchasing property involves numerous professionals and procedures. Consequently, having clear and accessible information can make a significant difference for first-time buyers navigating this process.
Our goal is for this guide to make the entire process more understandable, allowing young people to make informed decisions while reducing the risk of errors or unexpected setbacks.
This guide complements a range of Housing Authority schemes to support first-time buyers. These initiatives include those aimed at making homeownership more accessible, such as the 10% Deposit Payment Scheme for those lacking sufficient liquidity for the initial down payment, and others that help ease financial burdens after purchasing a home. For instance, the Grant for First Residence Scheme reimburses a percentage of the fiscal receipts submitted by first-time buyers for construction or finishing works related to completing their first home.
In the past two years alone, over 4,900 families have benefitted from the First-Time Buyer Scheme, which offers a grant of €1,000 per year for ten years. We have also introduced measures to simplify and streamline administrative procedures associated with this scheme by removing the need for yearly documentation submissions. This measure is part of our broader effort to reduce bureaucracy across all schemes.
In just a few days, the Authority will once again issue the annual payment for first-time buyers for the third consecutive year. This year, the scheme will also cover those who purchased their homes last year, expanding its reach to even more new homeowners. Those who benefitted from the scheme in its initial year will now receive their third instalment, continuing the Authority's long-term support for young people as they settle into homeownership.
We have also launched a dedicated online portal to ensure the guide remains relevant: https://firsthome.mt/. This portal will be regularly updated to reflect new schemes or regulatory changes. It also aligns with the Authority's digital transformation goals, which aim to make most of our schemes accessible online starting next year.
The online portal features a feedback section where the public can share their thoughts, helping us keep the guide accurate, helpful, and responsive to users' evolving needs. For instance, since its launch, we have already updated the portal to include the Buy Sustainable Property Scheme, announced by the Building and Construction Authority. Through this scheme, buyers who purchase an energy-efficient property and sign the final deed after 1 January 2025 may be eligible for one of two types of grants.
The success of this guide would not have been possible without the valuable input and collaboration of a wide range of stakeholders, including architects, notaries, real estate professionals, commercial banks, and young prospective buyers. Their insights helped ensure that the guide is practical and truly reflective of first-time buyers' challenges.
As part of our ongoing efforts to understand the evolving needs of our stakeholders, the Housing Authority conducts regular studies, focus groups, outreach sessions, workshops, and conferences. These engagements allow us to remain close to all key players in the sector—from prospective buyers to industry professionals—so we can understand emerging trends and proactively address them through informed policymaking and support initiatives.
The Housing Authority extends its sincere thanks to all those who contributed to this initiative and remains committed to developing further measures that place people, especially young, aspiring homeowners, at the heart of housing policy in Malta.
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