Regulating a promise of sale agreement of an immovable property yet to be built

Abstract

Recently, most prospective buyers are opting to buy an immovable property which is still not yet built, that is, ‘on plan’. Although agreeing to purchase an immovable property during the construction stage is broadly seen as a smart move, this is not always the case. Prospective purchasers are facing numerous difficulties when the vendors fail to meet the stipulated time and also contracts of works. This term paper’s objective is to shed light on the current legal framework, which the Courts apply to deal with disputes arising from such scenarios, and to determine the extent the legislator has struck a balanced between the rights and duties of both parties in this new market reality. Finally, the analyses of Maltese law and Maltese judgement along with Italian law and its interpretation would provide numerous guidelines and solutions to the Maltese legislation and help amend the law which would thereby improve the protection of prospective purchasers who opt to buy property not yet built. Thus, a number of possible solutions are provided in the concluding chapter, such solutions would strengthen the protection of buyers of an immovable property yet to be built.