For many years, legislation has controlled the purchase of immovable property by non-residents.  The reason is Malta's small size.  Malta's membership in the EU has brought some relaxation to these restrictions in favour of EU member states nationals, however Malta obtained a derogation to continue to control such purchases. 

Purchases by Individuals:

Citizens of all EU member states, who have resided in Malta continuously for a minimum period of 5 years at any time preceeding the date of acquisition may freely acquire any immovable property without the necessity of obtaining a permit.

Citizens of all EU member states who have not resided continuously in Malta for a minimum period of 5 years may only purchase their primary residence or any immovable property required for their business activities or supply of services without the necessity of obtaining a permit.

Citizens of all EU member states who have not resided continuously in Malta for a minimum period of 5 years, require a permit to acquire immovable property for secondary residence purposes ("second home" in Malta).

Individuals who are not citizens of a European Member state may acquire immovable property provided they are granted a permit.  However there are defined zones in Mata - usually high quality buildings in prime locations - referred to as special designated areas, where there are absolutely no restrictions to acquisition.

There is also no restriction on acquisition through inheritance; there are also other special exemptions.

Where property is purchased as a primary or secondary residence, with or without a permit, as the case may be, that property must be used as such.  Furthermore, there are restrictions on allowing such properties to be rented out.

Where a permit is required, the property must have a minimum value of €116,468 for a house or €69,881 for an apartment.  In the purchase of a primary or secondary residence, (whether a permit is required or not) no other property must have been previously acquired by the purchaser save for property in a special designated area.

Different rules apply to the acquisition by companies.

Procedures:

There are two legal stages: entering a promise of sale ("konvenju") followed by the signing of the deed of purchase ("kuntratt ta xiri").

The promise of sale agreement is a very important preliminary step, since once signed it is a binding promise on both parties to sell/purchase; it will contain all the terms and conditions of the transaction and cannot be ignored or annulled unless by agreement, or unless there is a good legal reason.  Nor can any terms be added or changed without mutual agreement.  The law requires this agreement and any extension thereof to be in writing and must be registered with the local competent authority for its validity.  Once the promise of sale agreement is signed, the public notary -  appointed by the purchaser - will carry out the necessary searches to ensure that the vendor has good title and that there are no undisclosed burdens on the property.   Among other things, the promise of sale agreement will state whether the property is freehold, or whether it is subject to an annual ground rent (emphyteutical grant), and in such case, whether it is temporary or perpetual and whether the ground rent is revisable.  The correctness of these fundamental aspects declared by the prospective seller are all verified by the Notary when carrying out the researches.

The promise of sale agreement usually states a validity period that is a time limit - it is typically a 3 month one - by which the final deed should be published - if none is stated, then the law deems the period to be 3 months. 

The purchase is completed by the signing of the deed of sale, which is a public document.  Stamp duty at usually 5% is payable to Government on the publication of the deed.  And hey presto the buyer becomes the lucky owner of immovable property in Malta!