The private residential leases act : ambiguities and possible improvements

Abstract

During the last decade, the private rented sector’s role in society has changed profoundly, as tenancy is no longer being considered as a short-term option. The Private Residential Leases Act, Chapter 604 of the Laws of Malta was enacted to resolve the imbalance existing in the private rented sector, brought about by the complete contractual freedom afforded prior to the Private Residential Leases Act to the parties in a private residential agreement. These shortcomings often emerge from the judgements of our Courts and thus in this dissertation the case law, particularly of the Rent Regulation Board, is heavily taken into consideration. Such judgements together with the Parliamentary Debates facilitated the means for scrutinising various aspects whilst taking into account the provisions of the Private Residential Leases Act. The main question leading this dissertation is, ‘What improvements or changes can be implemented for the better functioning of the Private Residential Leases Act?’ Consequently, five main aspects are discussed in this term paper, these being the competence of the Rent Regulation Board, the Adjudicating Panel as established under the PRLA, the lack of a definition of primary residential purpose under the Private Residential Leases Act, premises let to legal persons for residential purposes and underdeclared rent in a lease agreement. The aforementioned matters and their consequent ambiguity, are critically analysed in the light of the jurisprudence of the Rent Regulation Board, the First Hall of the Civil Court and the Court of Appeal. The main proposal put forward by this term paper is the restructuring of the Rent Regulation Board, which aims to re-establish a better functioning judicial system for the benefit of the parties in a lease agreement. This instigates the question of whether the Consequential Amendments as enacted by the Private Residential Leases Act could have accomplished more. Notwithstanding this, other proposals for the better functioning of the Private Residential Leases Act, are provided in this dissertation.