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Buying off-plan

Off-Plan Payment Plans in Malta: Is Paying '90% Now' Safe?

Reviewed and approved by Neil Bennett on 2026-10-26 · updated 2026-10-25

AI-generated illustration, not a real property

A developer shows you a block that is still bare concrete, or not yet started. The price is fine. Then comes the payment plan: most of the money now, a small balance when the building is finished. Is that safe?

This guide explains what Maltese law does and does not do for you in that situation. It is general information, not legal advice. Before you sign or pay anything, speak to your own notary and your own advocate.

A promise of sale is not a sale

Off-plan purchases in Malta usually start with a promise of sale, the konvenju. Under the Civil Code, a promise to sell at a fixed price is not a sale. If accepted, it obliges the seller to complete the sale or, if that is impossible, to pay damages 1.

So until the final deed, you do not own the apartment. You have a contract and a right to claim. Paying most of the price before the deed means handing over most of your money while you still own nothing.

The konvenju is binding once signed 3. It lapses at the end of its agreed period. If no period is agreed, it lapses three months from when the sale could be made. To keep it alive, the buyer must file a judicial intimation before expiry and, if the seller still fails, a sworn application within 30 days of expiry 1 2. These deadlines matter a great deal on a project that runs late. See our guide to the promise of sale.

What happens to the deposit

A deposit of about 10% is customary, but the law does not require it 4. It is negotiable and is typically held by the notary until searches are done 3. The konvenju must also be registered with Inland Revenue and provisional duty paid within 21 days, or it loses validity 3. Our source for this is dated, so check the current provisional duty figure with your notary or the Commissioner for Revenue.

The wording of the deposit matters. A deposit can be paid "on account of the price" or "in earnest" 3. Where earnest is given, either side may withdraw. The buyer who gave it loses it. The seller who received it must return double 1.

Forfeiture clauses do not work on their own. A seller who wants to keep a deposit must follow the art 1357(2) steps and get a court finding 11. A buyer whose promise simply expires recovers the deposit 11.

One point is not settled. Lawyers disagree on when interest on a refunded deposit starts to run. In a 2014 case, interest ran from the date the deposit was paid 10. A 2026 article by a practising advocate says it runs only from when the promise fell through 11. Ask your advocate.

Even money held by a notary is less protected than many buyers assume. A 2023 University of Malta dissertation noted that the obligatory Notarial Clients' Account under art 24A of the Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives Act had not been enforced. Funds a notary held "in escrow" therefore still formed part of the notary's personal estate 4. Ask your notary how and where your money will be kept.

Malta has no statutory escrow or completion guarantee

Put plainly: we found no source confirming any Maltese statutory escrow, mandatory bank guarantee, developer licensing scheme or deposit-insurance regime for off-plan buyers. Every source we found describes buyer protection as contractual only. This rests on absence of evidence and on repeated calls for reform, so ask your advocate to confirm the position on the date you sign.

Those calls are long-standing. The Malta Developers Association has asked for a register of approved developers and advised buyers to get legal and architectural advice before buying on plan 6. Its 2010 code of ethics is voluntary and applies to members only. It says buyers should not be pressured into a konvenju without time to reflect and take advice, and should be clearly told if a property lacks a full permit. It says nothing on deposit protection 7.

A 2023 KPMG construction report, as reported by Business Now, found that on-plan sales finance small developers. Risks raised included delays, deviations from specification, deposits diverted to other projects and reported fraud. Many established developers avoid on-plan sales. KPMG suggested standard terms, penalties for delay or discrepancy, public developer track records and timely recourse. No escrow or guarantee regime was described 5.

What if the developer goes bust?

We found no Maltese source on what happens to stage payments if a developer becomes insolvent. We cannot tell you how buyers rank as creditors, or whether a registered konvenju gives any preference. This is a question for an advocate.

What the case law does show is that recovery depends on suing a developer that can still pay. In the 2014 case above, the court ordered a refund of €28,185.42 on a €121,000 Mellieħa apartment, with interest, because the developer never called the buyer to the deed 10. The konvenju had been signed in 2005. A court order helps only if the company has money.

Is "90% now" normal?

Our sources do not show how common a "90% now, 10% on completion" plan is in Malta. They describe a customary deposit of about 10% at the konvenju 3 4. A plan asking for far more before the deed carries more risk, because more of your money sits outside the protection of ownership.

Illustrative example (hypothetical figures). Take a €300,000 apartment. With a 10% deposit, €30,000 is at risk before the deed. On a "90% now" plan, €270,000 is at risk. If the project stalls, your remedy in both cases is a contractual claim. The difference is how much you would be chasing.

If you need a loan, ask your bank early whether it will release funds before the deed. See our home loan guide.

Protections to negotiate

None of these is required by law. They are terms you can ask for, and your advocate can draft them.

  • Stage payments tied to certified progress. Pay in instalments, each released only when your own perit certifies that a defined stage is complete.
  • A bank guarantee. Ask whether the developer will provide a bank guarantee covering the money you pay before the deed. If it refuses, note that.
  • A clear completion date. Put a fixed date for the final deed in the konvenju, with a defined finish standard.
  • Penalties for delay. Agree a daily or monthly penalty if the deed is late. KPMG suggested penalties for delay or discrepancy as a reform 5.
  • Permit conditions. In Bingham v Seddon (2022), a clause requiring the property to conform to approved permits let the buyer refuse the deed when regularisation was still pending at closing. A permit issued weeks later did not cure it 2. Our guide on permits and internal changes explains why this matters.
  • Deposit wording. Decide with your advocate whether the deposit is "on account of the price" or "in earnest".
  • A konvenju long enough for the build. Make sure its term, and any extension, covers realistic delays.

For more on bargaining, see negotiating a shell-form price and our wider guide to buying off-plan.

The Buyers' Charter consultation

The Housing Authority launched a public consultation on a Buyers' Charter in early September 2026, open for two months 8 9. It is meant to set principles, standards and expectations for all residential purchases, not only for first-time buyers. Its themes are transparency, rights and responsibilities, consumer empowerment, and what to do when rights are not respected 8. It was described as a national statement of good practice. Whether it will be voluntary or binding was not stated 8.

We could not read the consultation document itself. We cannot say whether it proposes anything on off-plan sales, deposit escrow, completion guarantees or penalties. A closing date of 2 November 2026 appears in a search index for the government page, but we could not confirm it. Check the Housing Authority's website.

Before you sign

Read the payment plan as a question of risk: how much will you have paid, and what can you recover if things go wrong? Use our cost-to-own calculator at /calculators/ to see duty and total costs alongside the payment schedule, and our finishing budget calculator to plan the money you will need after handover. When you are ready to price the fit-out, use Get finishing quotes.

Questions people ask

Is there a legal escrow for off-plan deposits in Malta?

We found no source confirming any Maltese statutory escrow, mandatory bank guarantee or deposit-insurance regime for off-plan buyers. The sources we found describe protection as contractual only. Even money a notary holds 'in escrow' was described in a 2023 University of Malta dissertation as still forming part of the notary's personal estate, because the obligatory Notarial Clients' Account had not been enforced. Ask your notary and advocate how your money will be held.

Does the law say how big the konvenju deposit must be?

No. Civil Code arts 1357 to 1359 do not require a deposit at all. A deposit of about 10% is customary and negotiable, and is typically held by the notary until searches are done.

What happens if the developer never calls me to the final deed?

If the promise of sale lapses, a buyer can usually seek the deposit back. In a 2014 case the First Hall Civil Court ordered a developer to refund a deposit of €28,185.42 with interest after it never called the buyer to the deed. Recovery depends on suing a developer that can pay. Your advocate can explain the deadlines under art 1357(2).

Will the Buyers' Charter protect off-plan payments?

Not known yet. The Housing Authority launched a two-month public consultation on a Buyers' Charter in September 2026. We could not read the consultation document itself, so we cannot say whether it proposes anything on off-plan sales, deposits, escrow, guarantees or penalties. Its legal status was not stated.

Sources

  1. Legislation Malta (Government of Malta), Civil Code (Chapter 16), consolidated PDF - arts 1357-1359. · checked 26 Oct 2026
  2. Ganado Advocates, Promises of Sale and implications on non-adherence to obligations therein (16 Jun 2022). · checked 26 Oct 2026
  3. Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates, Salient Features of Property Purchase in Malta. · checked 26 Oct 2026
  4. University of Malta (OAR@UM) - author Katriona Fenech, The notaries' fiduciary role in regard to deposits in promise of sale agreements (LL.B. dissertation, 2023). · checked 26 Oct 2026
  5. Business Now, Is it time to regulate on-plan property sales? (9 Nov 2023, Robert Fenech). · checked 26 Oct 2026
  6. MaltaToday, MDA concerned with rogue developers, buyers not getting what expected (8 May 2019). · checked 26 Oct 2026
  7. MaltaToday, Construction developers agree on 'revolutionary' code of ethics (21 Dec 2010). · checked 26 Oct 2026
  8. Housing Authority (Malta), Launch of a Public Consultation on the Buyers' Charter (3 Sep 2026). · checked 26 Oct 2026
  9. Lovin Malta, Public Consultation Launched On Buyers' Charter (Sep 2026). · checked 26 Oct 2026
  10. MaltaToday, Construction company ordered to refund €28,000 deposit (25 Feb 2014). · checked 26 Oct 2026
  11. Mondaq, Promise Of Sale Damages - What Happens When Konvenju Fails (2 Mar 2026, Neil Gauci, GTG). · checked 26 Oct 2026

General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Ask your notary, advocate or perit about your own purchase. Provenance: drafted with an AI model (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources listed, and edited for this site.