Long let or short let in Malta? Here is the arithmetic.
Over the twelve months to August 2026 the listings we manage grossed 30,737 euro per key in accommodation revenue, against 15,600 euro a year for a Sliema two bedroom let long term at the official median registered rent. The short let grossed roughly twice as much. It did not necessarily net twice as much, and for some owners it nets less, because the two models are taxed differently. A long let can elect a final tax of 15 percent on gross rent. An MTA licensed short let is trading income, taxed at progressive rates rising to 35 percent, with expenses deductible against it. Almost every comparison published in Malta stops at the gross line. This one does not.
One side is our own data. The other is the government's.
The short let figures are ours. A cohort of 22 listings across Malta, live and bookable for all twelve months from September 2025 to August 2026, pulled from our property management system. Annual occupancy 83.3 percent, blended annual rate 101 euro, annual revenue per available night 84.21 euro. Multiplied across the year that is 30,737 euro of gross accommodation revenue per key. It is nightly rate only, before platform commission, and it excludes cleaning fees, extra guest fees, taxes and the eco contribution.
The long let figures are the Housing Authority's. Every private residential lease in Malta must be registered, so the register is the only honest source of what properties actually let for rather than what they are advertised at. In the most recent published report, covering contracts that started in the first half of 2024, the median registered rent for a two bedroom apartment was 1,300 euro a month in Sliema and 800 euro in St Paul's Bay. Three bedrooms, 1,600 euro and 900 euro. Rents across the register rose 6.8 percent in that period against the year before.
One caveat, and it matters. Our cohort of 22 keys includes individual guest house rooms as well as whole apartments, so the per key figure is not a like for like against a whole two bedroom apartment. Treat 30,737 euro as the portfolio average per bookable key, not as a forecast for your flat. The point of the table below is the shape of the arithmetic, not the specific euro figure for your property.
The two columns, line by line.
| Line | Short let, our portfolio | Long let, Sliema two bedroom at the registered median |
|---|---|---|
| Gross annual revenue | 30,737 euro | 15,600 euro |
| Platform commission at 15.5 percent | -4,764 euro | None |
| Net received | 25,972 euro | 15,600 euro |
| Management | -3,984 euro, being 13 percent of net payout plus VAT at 18 percent | Letting agent, commonly half of the first month's rent plus VAT, once per tenancy |
| After commission and management | 21,988 euro | About 15,000 euro in year one |
| Running costs the owner carries | Utilities, internet, consumables, linen replacement, licence, insurance, accountancy | Normally the tenant's, except condominium fees and buildings insurance |
| Tax | Trading income at progressive rates rising to 35 percent, expenses deductible, declared in the annual return by 30 June | Optional final tax of 15 percent on gross rent, no deductions, TA24 by 30 April |
| Equivalent monthly rent to match | 1,832 euro before the owner's running costs | 1,300 euro actual |
Short let figures from our own portfolio, twelve months to August 2026. Long let rent from the Housing Authority register, contracts commencing 2024 H1, the most recent published report. Letting agent fee is one agency's published rate, not an industry standard. Illustrative only and not tax advice.
The models are not taxed the same way, and that is where the gap goes.
Rental income from a long residential let can be taxed at a final rate of 15 percent on the gross rent. One form, the TA24, filed by 30 April of the following year. No deductions are allowed against it, none are needed, and the income does not go in the tax return at all. The election is annual, so a landlord can take it one year and not the next, and it is not available on rent from a related party.
Short letting is different. The Malta Tax and Customs Administration's own manual on the taxation of rental income treats short letting of holiday accommodation that requires an MTA licence as trading in nature, taxable under article 4(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act and declared in section 2 of the annual return. No special rate applies. Progressive rates apply, rising to 35 percent, and in exchange expenses wholly and exclusively incurred in producing the income are deductible.
Work it through on the figures above, with 3,000 euro of owner borne running costs on the short let and an owner already at the top marginal rate. The short let shows about 18,988 euro of profit, leaving roughly 12,342 euro after tax. The long let shows 15,600 euro gross, leaving 13,260 euro after the 15 percent final tax. The model that grossed twice as much lands slightly behind.
That calculation is an illustration, not a result. It swings on three things: your total other income, which sets your marginal rate; how much genuine deductible cost the short let carries, since every euro of it reduces the taxable profit; and whether the property is held personally or in a company, which changes the question entirely. An owner on a low marginal rate, or one with real deductions including interest on a mortgage against the property, comes out well ahead on the short let. An owner at 35 percent with a mortgage free flat and few costs may not. Ask your accountant to run your actual position before you decide. We are property managers, not tax advisers.
A long let's rent is close to frozen, by law and by habit.
Under the Private Residential Leases Act, in force since 1 January 2020, the rent on a long private residential lease may be increased only once a year, only if the contract provides for it, by no more than the annual variation in the Property Price Index published by the National Statistics Office, and in no case by more than 5 percent.
In practice the increase is usually nothing at all. Of the more than 25,700 leases renewed in 2023, the Housing Authority found that about 92 percent were renewed at the same rent.
Two more things an owner should know before choosing the long let for its simplicity. The lease must be registered with the Housing Authority within ten days of commencement or it is null and void. And the minimum term is one year, with the tenant free to withdraw after six months on one month's notice on a lease of under two years, while the landlord is bound for the term.
So the long let trades a lower number for a number that holds still. That is a real benefit if certainty is what you want. It is not the same thing as a lower risk asset.
The downside is price, not empty rooms.
The obvious objection to a short let is the winter. Our own data says the objection is aimed at the wrong thing. Across the twelve months the occupancy spread was 71.0 percent in the worst month against 91.3 percent in the best, a factor of 1.29. The rate spread over the same period was 61.70 euro against 155.70 euro, a factor of 2.52.
The beds fill in winter. The money is lost on price. August revenue per available night ran about 3.2 times January, and almost all of that swing is rate rather than occupancy.
That changes what you are underwriting. A long let's risk is a void, which is binary and total. A short let's risk, on this evidence, is a soft rate for four months in a property that is still largely occupied. Those are not the same risk, and the second one is the one a revenue manager can actually work on. April and October both ran roughly double January, and most owners write those months off.
The full month by month figures are on our Malta short let seasonality page.
You cannot quietly run a licensed short let as a winter long let.
Owners used to bridge the two models by letting short in summer and taking a six month tenant over winter. On a licensed short let that route is now closed. Under the Tourism Accommodation Regulations, 2026, in force 15 June 2026, no single booking on licensed short let accommodation may run longer than 90 consecutive days.
The models are therefore a choice rather than a blend, at least within one licence and one calendar year.
Our view, including when the answer is the long let.
Choose the long let if the property is a standard inland apartment with no view, no outdoor space and nothing a guest would pay a premium for, if you are at the top marginal rate with few deductible costs, if you need the income to be predictable to the euro, or if you do not want a licence, a register entry and an operator in your building.
Choose the short let if the property has something a guest will pay for, a view, a pool, a terrace, character, a location, because that is where the rate spread lives and the rate is where the entire gap is won. Choose it also if you have real deductible costs against the income, or if you want the asset's income to track the market rather than sit frozen at 2024's rent.
We will tell you which one we think your property is. We decline properties that should be long lets, because managing one badly suited to the short let market serves nobody.
Straight answers.
On gross revenue, usually yes, and by a wide margin. Across the 22 listings we manage, the twelve months to August 2026 produced 30,737 euro of gross accommodation revenue per key, against 15,600 euro a year for a two bedroom apartment in Sliema let at the median registered rent. On what the owner keeps, it is much closer. The short let pays platform commission of 15.5 percent, a management fee, and its own utilities, consumables and linen, and it is taxed as trading income at progressive rates rising to 35 percent. A long let can elect a final tax of 15 percent on the gross rent. An owner on a high marginal rate with few deductible costs can gross twice as much on the short let and keep slightly less.
Differently, and this is the part most comparisons leave out. Income from a long residential let can be taxed at a final rate of 15 percent on the gross rent, filed on form TA24 by 30 April of the following year, with no deductions allowed and nothing entered in the tax return. The election is made annually and is not available on rent from a related party. Short letting of accommodation that requires a Malta Tourism Authority licence is treated by the Malta Tax and Customs Administration as trading in nature under article 4(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act, declared in section 2 of the annual return by 30 June, taxed at progressive rates with no special rate, and with expenses wholly and exclusively incurred in producing the income deductible against it.
The only reliable source is the Housing Authority register, because every private residential lease in Malta must be registered there, so it records what properties actually let for rather than what they are advertised at. In the most recent published report, covering contracts that started in the first half of 2024, the median registered monthly rent for a two bedroom apartment was 1,300 euro in Sliema and 800 euro in St Paul's Bay. For three bedrooms it was 1,600 euro and 900 euro. Rents on newly registered contracts rose 6.8 percent against the same period a year earlier. Sliema, St Julian's and Swieqi are the most expensive localities, and most Gozo localities sit below the Malta average.
Only within narrow limits. Under the Private Residential Leases Act, in force since 1 January 2020, the rent on a long private residential lease may be increased once a year, only if the contract provides for it, by no more than the annual variation in the Property Price Index published by the National Statistics Office, and in no case by more than 5 percent. In practice most landlords increase nothing. Of the more than 25,700 leases renewed in 2023, the Housing Authority found about 92 percent were renewed at the same rent.
Not in the way owners expect. Across the twelve months to August 2026 our occupancy ranged from 71.0 percent in the weakest month to 91.3 percent in the strongest, a spread of only 1.29 times. The nightly rate ranged from 61.70 euro to 155.70 euro, a spread of 2.52 times. August revenue per available night ran about 3.2 times January, and almost all of that swing is rate rather than occupancy. The beds fill in winter. The money is lost on price. A long let's risk is a void, which is total when it happens. A short let's risk, on this evidence, is a soft rate in a property that is still largely occupied.
Not on a licensed short let, not any more. Under the Tourism Accommodation Regulations, 2026, in force 15 June 2026, no single booking on licensed short let accommodation may run longer than 90 consecutive days. A six month winter tenancy is therefore not available inside the short let licence, and a long private residential lease carries a minimum term of one year with registration at the Housing Authority within ten days of commencement. The two models are a choice rather than a blend.
Sources
- Housing Authority, Registered Rental Contracts in Malta, 2024 H1
- Housing Authority rental prices dashboard and rent calculator
- Malta Tax and Customs Administration, Manual on the Taxation of Rental Income
- Private Residential Leases Act, Chapter 604
- Tourism Accommodation Regulations, 2026, S.L. 409.24
- National Statistics Office, property statistics
Last reviewed 14 October 2026. Short let figures are from our own portfolio and are not a forecast for any individual property. Nothing on this page is tax advice. Ask your accountant to run your own position.
Send us the property and we will tell you which model it should be.
We build a month by month projection from live comparables for your specific property before either of us commits to anything. If the arithmetic says your property should be a long let, we will say so and tell you why.