Is the Government of Malta a large land owner?

Yes, the Government of Malta is by far the largest land-owner in the country.  It owns a wide variety of property ranging from vacant land, to rural land, office buildings, commercial premises, stores, garages, residential premises, fortresses, towers, war-time pillboxes, roads etc.  Government ownership of immovable property knows a variety of sources, including:

(i)   Ex-Church immovable property comprises all property that was transferred to the State by virtue of the Church/State Agreement of 1991, and may include any type of property but mainly houses, flats, garages, stores and rural land.  This property is administered by the Joint Office.  For further details go to FAQs – Ex-Church Property Transferred to the State.

(ii)  Ex-Services Property this is property that was transferred to the state by the British Military Services by virtue of the United Kingdom Lands (Vesting) Act.

(iii) Expropriated Property being property intended for public projects that was forcefully acquired by Government under the Land Acquisition (Public Purpose) Ordinance.

(iv)  Ex-Knights Property being property that has been vested in Government as successor to the Knights of Malta.

(v)   Purchased Property being property acquired from third parties by Government under amicable settlement arrangements.

(vi)  Other Property including property bequeathed to the state or otherwise belonging to the state by virtue of its vacant ownership status (in terms of the Civil Code land that has no ownership is deemed to be Government-owned).