Applications to build a receded floor on small houses, particularly those in village centres are likely to be given the green light by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority as from Monday when the new design and policy guidelines come into effect.

The guidelines were launched yesterday during a seminar organised by Mepa and addressed by the Environment and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino. These guidelines will apply for the applications that are acknowledged after Monday.

Asked whether the idea to allow small houses to increase their floor space conflicted with the fact that there is a lot of vacant property in Malta, Minister Pullicino said the initiative was precisely intended to tackle this issue. He explained that there is a large number of houses – particularly in old village centres – that are too small to meet the needs of modern day tenants and as a consequence are left vacant. “The building of an extra receded floor will make such properties more attractive and will increase the chance of them being used,” he said.

In this vein, the new guidelines provide for the construction of penthouses, even in the case of a two-storey apartment block. There are parameters within which such permits will be issued especially with regard to conservation areas. However, such developments were previously ruled out completely. Building a small room on the roof will now be possible, even if the room is not a washroom – as was mandatory so far.

Mepa Planning Director Christopher Borg explained that the new regulations merely accept a widespread practice, which may not necessarily have negative architectural effects.

Other interesting changes include the introduction of an Urban Improvement Fund which will be administered in conjunction with local councils. Where there is no commuted parking payment scheme and a development meets the criteria for inclusion in the scheme, then the contribution will be directed toward the urban improvements fund. The fund will be used for traffic management initiatives, green transport, urban improvements or similar projects in the locality.

Another change was the much-awaited shift to a metric measurement system for buildings. Previously floor heights used to be measured in terms of courses instead of metres. Different interpretations of the actual measurement of a course often led to adjacent buildings being of different heights by a few inches. The new guidelines cap the maximum height permitted at specific measurements. First floor apartments without semi basements have been fixed a 4.87 metres while a four-storey building cannot exceed 15.75 metres, without semi-basement.

The so-called Floor Area Ratio (FAR) was also changed and has been reduced to 2,000 square metres for rural areas. The FAR is a formula Mepa applies in cases where developers are willing to reduce the footprint they build on and instead opt to expand their property height-wise.

The FAR can be used for smaller plots of land in rural areas.

The idea behind the FAR is to have greater landscaping at the base of a building and to switch from monotonous square-like architecture to more adventurous and aesthetically pleasing structures. To this effect the guidelines also introduce the concept of “visual architectural gain” which in practice means that policy exceptions will be made when a project is deemed to be of considerable quality and that it will promote similar development in the area.

The new guidelines also opt for a tighter policy with regard to the development of public spaces and gardens. Asked by TMID to amplify on the matter, Minister Pullicino explained that within conservation areas it will not be allowed to develop gardens even when these are privately-owned. These areas provide important environmental pockets and must be preserved, he added, even though some developers will not be pleased with such change.

The new guidelines also opt for a differentiation of apartment sizes within an apartment block and place a limit on the number of one-bed roomed flats an apartment block can have. Other changes included a more lax regulation system for the installation of solar or photovoltaic panels.

The minister commented on this latter policy change, saying that some people may complain about the fact that panels are not aesthetically pleasing just as many people do not agree on whether wind farms are an eyesore or not. “One has to keep in mind the environmental benefits…not to mention that when it comes to architecture it’s always a matter of taste,” he added.