Landlords will only be able to register a maximum of six tenants in one dwelling as part of a new reform to rent laws announced on Friday.

Minister for Social and Affordable Accommodation Roderick Galdes announced the legal amendments in a press conference on Friday, saying that they will serve to strengthen the rental sector while also strengthening enforcement and increasing simplification.

He said that today’s amendments offer more stability to a rental sector which saw unprecedented reforms three years ago.

Galdes noted that the majority of landlords are in conformity with the law and were catalysts for the amendments that he was presenting.

However, there is still a small band of landlords who are not in conformity with the law, and they will be addressed through these laws, he said.

“This is why with the legal amendments announced today, a landlord will not be able to register more than six people in one dwelling” as stipulated in planning and development subsidiary legislation, Galdes said.

Furthermore, the Housing Authority will be given the power to issue administrative fines of up to €2,329 where the correct practices, such as a failure to register a contract with the same authority, are not followed.

If the landlord fails to cooperate with the Authority and conform themselves with the law in a short period of time, then they will face the Magistrates Court and may be fined up to €10,000.

Housing Authority CEO Matthew Zerafa said that after the first set of professional standards were announced in the rental market three years ago, the amendments presented on Friday will sustain the good relationship between landlord and tenant by providing better conformity between the two.

“We are ensuring that the rental market continues to offer opportunities of a dignified and stable living for Maltese families,” Zerafa said.