The Planning Authority (PA) said Saturday it is temporarily postponing the call of the Irrestawra Darek Scheme for scheduled Grade 1 and 2 residential properties which is meant to open next Tuesday.

This decision, the PA said in a statement, was taken following an overwhelming response following the call for owners of residential properties within Urban Conservation Areas (UCAs) earlier this week.

The call for scheduled Grade 1 and 2 residential properties and other similar schemes will be issued in the near future.

Last Tuesday, the PA was criticised after the online application system collapsed minutes after it opened and, when it came back online, the scheme had been oversubscribed.

The Kamra tal-Periti (Chamber of Architects) said was happened signalled the epitome of the Planning Authority’s disregard for the profession. "To the consternation of periti and their clients, the online application platform collapsed within seconds under heavy traffic of users all trying to race each other at getting their applications through. After two hours of refreshing the error pages, the application form disappeared from the website indicating that the scheme may have been shut down by the Planning Authority altogether," the chamber said.

Planning Minister Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi confirmed in Parliament that the fund that helps owners restore their façade was "taken up within minutes."

The Irrestawra Darek scheme reimburses owners of properties in Urban Conservation Areas and for scheduled Grade 1 and 2 properties, who want to restore their façade.

This year the Planning Authority made €5 million available, with €4 million for UCA residential properties and €1 million for scheduled properties.