Short-term rental restrictions step in right direction, ‘but more needs to be done’ – MHRA President

The recently published legal notice introducing restrictions on short-term rentals is a step in the right direction, President of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association Tony Zahra told BusinessNow.mt, “but more needs to be done.”

Some Mayors in heavily populated areas, such as Swieqi Mayor Noel Muscat, have long been complaining about the impact of the short-term rental market in residential zones.

In April, the government published a legal notice introducing new regulations. The regulations for short-let properties include limitations on guest numbers per bedroom, the need for a waste collection plan, and the need for short-let apartment to display the details of a designated person available 24 hours a day outside their properties, among other things.

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Mr Zahra, however, does not believe these regulations go far enough.

“I’ll explain with the following example. If I was living in a flat in a complex of 10 apartments, and apartment number six decided to turn that into a butcher shop, people won’t like it and will ask how is it possible that the residential property has now become a commercial property? Short term rentals are a commercial activity, and therefore there should be the same rigorous requirements for an apartment being turned into a butcher shop, for an apartment being turned into short term rentals.”

He believes more needs to be done to ensure that the commercial activity is regulated, but did acknowledge that it is a step in the right direction.

He says that short term rentals are having a major impact on the level of tourists coming to Malta.

“In terms of tourism activity, if we want to increase the spend per person, then we have got to provide the product that will match those requirements. If you provide a low value product, you’re going to get low value clients. If you provide the product which is a high value, you’re going to get high value clients.”

Queried whether he should be taken to mean he doesn’t believe short-term rentals are beneficial for the country, or if there just needs to be more quality control, he says that the short-term rental market issue is not solely an issue locally.

“One of the things seen abroad, and it is happening in Malta, is that it is pushing up property prices and pushing  residents from the areas which those tourists come to experience. So we might end up with a place where there are no residents and only tourists. Then what would they come there for?”