Property
Choosing an estate agent in Malta: the licence that only became compulsory in 2021, the register that searches by number, and the fee a failed deal can still owe
Malta regulated estate agency later than almost anywhere in Europe: the licence became compulsory only at the end of 2021, so long experience in this market is not evidence of ever having been licensed. The register that proves a licence is public but searches by licence number or identity card number rather than by company name, which makes the licence-holder's photo identity document the document to ask for. And one provision catches buyers out: where the agent was involved in negotiations and the deal then fails, fair compensation is still due, in an amount a court sets.
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Contents
- Estate agency in Malta only became a licensed activity at the end of 2021
- The four licences in Malta, and why the difference matters to you
- What a Maltese estate agency licence requires: ECTS credits, fit and proper, and CPD on renewal
- How to check a Maltese estate agent's licence: the register searches by number, not by name
- Fees in Malta must be disclosed in advance, and a failed deal can still owe the agent compensation
- What the Maltese licence does not tell you, and what to ask instead
- What this page does not tell you
- Frequently asked questions about estate agents in Malta
- More on Malta and on choosing an agent elsewhere
Malta is the youngest of the European estate agency regimes, and that single fact changes how you read an agent's credentials here.
The short answer: the Real Estate Agents, Property Brokers and Property Consultants Act, 2020 — Act XXXII of 2020, assented on 3 July 2020 — made the licence compulsory from 31 December 2021. Before that date the profession was not licensed at all. Operating without a licence now carries an administrative fine of up to €20,000. The licence requires a real estate certificate measured in ECTS credits and a fit-and-proper test, and is renewable against continuing professional development. The Board must keep a public register, which is searchable by licence number or identity card number — not by company name. And under article 12, an agent who took part in negotiations is owed fair compensation even where the deal falls through, in an amount determined by a court.
Each rule names its article, with the date we read it.
Estate agency in Malta only became a licensed activity at the end of 2021
Article 3(2) of the Act prohibits carrying on the activity of a property broker or real estate agent without a licence issued under it, and sets the compliance date at 31 December 2021. The same applies to acting as a branch manager or a property consultant.
Article 3(7) gives it force: a person who does not comply is liable to an administrative fine not exceeding €20,000.
The implication is the one to carry into a meeting. An agency advertising two decades in the Maltese market is describing a period in which no licence existed to hold, so experience and licensing are two separate questions here in a way they are not in Portugal or Greece. Both are worth asking about; neither answers the other.
There is a narrow exemption. Article 3(3) exempts the occasional intermediary — no more than two transactions a year, no advertising and no staff — though even they must notify the Board. Anybody doing this as a business falls outside it.
The four licences in Malta, and why the difference matters to you
The Act defines four categories in article 2, and they are not seniority grades. They describe who stands behind the person you are dealing with.
| Licence | What it means |
|---|---|
| Property broker | a licensed intermediary who does not employ or engage branch managers or property consultants — works alone |
| Real estate agent | a licensed intermediary who does employ or engage one or more branch managers or property consultants |
| Branch manager | a licence holder employed to supervise property consultants |
| Property consultant | a licensed intermediary employed by an agent, working under the direction of that agent or a branch manager |
A real estate agent may operate through a partnership, with the Board's authorisation, under article 3(5).
So the person showing you a flat is often a property consultant, licensed in their own right but acting under someone else's direction. That is lawful and ordinary. It also means the question "who is the licensed agent behind this consultant" has a real answer, and the consultant's own licence does not supply it.
What a Maltese estate agency licence requires: ECTS credits, fit and proper, and CPD on renewal
Article 4 sets the entry conditions, and Malta's design is unusual in leaning on education rather than on insurance.
Applicants must be at least 18, or emancipated to trade. Brokers, agents and branch managers need a real estate certificate of «a minimum of twelve (12) ECTS at level four (4)»; property consultants need a minimum of eight ECTS at the same level. Equivalent qualifications may be recognised by the Malta Qualifications Recognition Information Centre, and where equivalence is only partial, article 4(1)(c) and 4(2)(c) let the applicant demonstrate competence through an assessment set by the Board.
Article 4(3) adds the fit-and-proper test: undischarged bankrupts are excluded, and so is anybody who, considering conduct, repute, financial position and the public interest, is not fit and proper.
The licence is not permanent in practice. Article 9(1)(d) lets the Board refuse renewal where the licensee has not completed the required continuing professional development hours over five years, and article 6(3) lets the Board attach conditions to a licence.
One thing the Act does not require, and it is worth naming because a neighbouring regime does. There is no professional indemnity insurance requirement in this Act. Portugal's Lei 15/2013 conditions its licence on cover of at least €150,000; Malta conditions its licence on qualifications and continuing education. If you want to know whether the agency carries indemnity cover here, that is a question to ask, not something the licence answers.
How to check a Maltese estate agent's licence: the register searches by number, not by name
Article 11(1) requires the Board to set up and maintain a Register of Licensees and to make it available to the public «using any means it deems fit». That register exists and is public.
Its search, though, takes an identity card number or a licence number. There is no search by company name, and the page names no other input. The register states that it «is updated periodically», without giving a frequency or a last-updated date — which is a limit worth knowing before you treat an absence as proof of anything.
That turns the practical instruction into a document request. Article 7(3) requires the Board to issue each licensee a photo identity document showing the licence type and the registration number, and that document remains the Board's property rather than the licensee's. So: ask to see it, note the number and the licence type, then check the number in the register.
Article 7(1) adds a smaller check in the same family: a licensee needs the Board's approval before trading under any name. A trading name is therefore something the Board has seen, not merely a brand choice.
Fees in Malta must be disclosed in advance, and a failed deal can still owe the agent compensation
Article 12 does two things, and the second is the one that surprises people.
First: «Licensees shall make known to the parties the fees to be charged for their services in advance.» Disclosure is a statutory duty, not a courtesy, and it attaches before the service rather than at the invoice.
Second: where a licensee was involved in the negotiations and the transaction then fails, fair compensation is still due, in an amount to be determined by a court.
That is a materially different rule from the one a buyer brings with them from most markets, where no completion means no fee. In Malta the collapse of a deal does not by itself extinguish the agent's claim; it converts the amount into something a court sets if the parties cannot agree.
Two consequences. Before engaging an agent, the fee has to be disclosed to you — so ask, and ask in writing. And if negotiations then break down, the right question is not whether anything is owed but how much, which is a reason to settle that in the engagement rather than in a dispute.
The Act sets no commission rates and no caps. Any percentage described to you as the standard Maltese commission is market custom, not law.
What the Maltese licence does not tell you, and what to ask instead
A licence in Malta establishes that someone met an educational threshold, passed a fit-and-proper test and kept up their professional development. It does not establish indemnity insurance, because the Act does not require it. It does not establish how long they have worked, because before the end of 2021 nobody needed a licence to work. And the register will not confirm a company by name, because it does not search that way.
So the three questions that actually resolve the matter are: may I see your photo licence document, which category is it, and do you carry professional indemnity cover.
What this page does not tell you
It does not name agencies or rank them. It does not state a commission percentage, for the reason above. And it does not cover what the purchase costs or what buying property does and does not do for residence in Malta, both of which are in our Malta pages.
Frequently asked questions about estate agents in Malta
Do estate agents in Malta need a licence?
Yes, since 31 December 2021. Article 3(2) of Act XXXII of 2020 prohibits carrying on the activity of a property broker or real estate agent without a licence, and extends the same requirement to branch managers and property consultants. Before that date the profession was not licensed.
What is the penalty for acting as an unlicensed estate agent in Malta?
An administrative fine of up to €20,000 under article 3(7).
How do I check whether a Maltese estate agent is licensed?
Through the Board's public Register of Licensees, required by article 11(1). The search takes a licence number or an identity card number rather than a company name, so the practical route is to ask for the photo identity document that article 7(3) requires the Board to issue — it shows the licence type and the registration number — and then check that number.
What is the difference between a property broker, a real estate agent and a property consultant in Malta?
A property broker works without employing branch managers or property consultants. A real estate agent employs or engages at least one of them. A branch manager supervises property consultants. A property consultant is licensed but works under the direction of an agent or a branch manager. All four are defined in article 2.
What qualifications does a Maltese estate agent need?
A real estate certificate of at least 12 ECTS at level 4 for brokers, agents and branch managers, and at least 8 ECTS for property consultants, under article 4(1) and 4(2), plus the fit-and-proper test in article 4(3). Renewal can be refused where the continuing professional development hours have not been completed over five years, under article 9(1)(d).
Does a Maltese estate agent have to carry professional indemnity insurance?
The Act does not require it. That is a difference from Portugal, where Lei 15/2013 conditions the licence on cover of at least €150,000. In Malta it is a question to ask the agency directly.
Do I have to pay a Maltese estate agent if the sale falls through?
Possibly. Article 12 provides that where the licensee was involved in the negotiations and the transaction fails, fair compensation is still due, in an amount determined by a court. The same article requires the fees to be made known to the parties in advance.
Is there a standard estate agency commission in Malta?
No. The Act sets no rate and no cap, and requires only that the fee be disclosed in advance. A figure presented as the standard commission is custom rather than law.
More on Malta and on choosing an agent elsewhere
What buying property does and does not do for residence in Malta is in the Malta residence programme. What living there costs, by the state's own figures, is in living in Malta. The equivalent rules for Portugal — where the licence carries a €150,000 insurance floor and an unwritten mediation contract is void — are in estate agents in Portugal, and for Greece, where exclusivity is capped at eight months, in estate agents in Greece. The Act and the register named here, with the date we read them, are on the sources page: the statute at Act XXXII of 2020 and the register at the Real Estate Licensing Register.