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Office space in Malta: a guide

Boardroom D with yellow and grey chairs around a timber table

Serviced office or conventional lease, the law, planning and VAT, and what to check before you sign

There are two main ways to get an office in Malta. A serviced office is furnished and run for you, with the space and the services in one monthly fee. A conventional lease gives you the property alone: you fit it out and run it. This guide compares the two, sums up the law, planning and VAT, and lists what to check before you sign.

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Two ways

Two ways to get an office

A serviced office is ready to use. One monthly fee usually covers the furniture, utilities, internet, cleaning and reception, with shared meeting rooms and a kitchen. There is little to set up, and you can often move to a bigger or smaller office in the same building.

A conventional lease is a lease of the property itself, often unfurnished. You usually pay for the fit-out and furniture, arrange the utilities, internet, cleaning and insurance, and pay a deposit. The rent, the term, any right to leave early and what happens at the end are whatever the contract says.

Choose a serviced office to start quickly with predictable costs, and a conventional lease if you want your own fit-out for several years.

A private office for two, with desks by a floor-to-ceiling window

The law

What the law says about office leases

The Civil Code (Cap. 16) governs office leases and counts an office as a “commercial tenement”. Leases that came into force on or after 1 June 1995 follow the terms agreed and the law in force at the time. Since the 2009 reform (Act X of 2009), a lease made after 1 January 2010 must be in writing. It must state the property, its agreed use, the period, whether and how it can be extended, and the rent and how it is paid, or it is null.

A lease ends on its agreed date without notice, and one made after 1 January 2010 is not renewed just because the tenant stays on. Unless the landlord has agreed to do them, the tenant does all repairs except structural ones, and alterations need the landlord’s consent. Sub-letting or assigning needs the contract’s permission; for a company tenant, a transfer of half its shares or of control generally counts as sub-letting.

Registration with the Housing Authority is for private residential leases (Cap. 604), and that Act does not apply to property not let for a primary residential purpose. We found no register for office leases.

Planning

Planning: offices are Class 4A

The Development Planning (Use Classes) Order (S.L. 552.15) puts offices in Class 4A, “Financial, Professional and Other Offices”. A material change of use needs a development permission (Cap. 552). A change within the same class does not. Some changes into office use, such as from a shop, start with a notification to the Planning Authority: they can go ahead once it confirms, or if it has not said within 30 days that a permit is needed.

The permit matters for some licences. A recruitment, temporary work or outsourcing agency applying for a DIER licence (S.L. 452.130) must give the address where it will work, with a copy of a permit for Class 4A(c) office use or another permit DIER accepts.

VAT

VAT on office rent

Under the VAT Act (Cap. 406), letting immovable property is exempt, with exceptions. Those that can apply to offices include letting by a limited liability company to a person registered under article 10, for that person’s economic activity; lettings of up to 30 days by a taxable person, with some exceptions; parking in areas designated by the Commissioner for Tax and Customs; and permanently installed equipment and machinery.

A serviced office fee also pays for services, and the Act does not say how such a fee is treated, so ask your tax adviser. BUSINESSLABS quotes its prices excluding VAT.

Where we fit

Where BUSINESSLABS fits

BUSINESSLABS is a serviced office and coworking centre in a building on Triq Dun Karm, the Birkirkara bypass. Private offices start from €650 a month, excluding VAT, subject to availability and tailored case by case. Most suit two to four people and can be split or joined as a team changes.

The fee includes furniture, air conditioning, water and electricity; fibre and Wi-Fi with a second line and a generator; cleaning and maintenance; reception for visitors, post and couriers, 08:00–17:00, Monday to Friday, except public holidays; a kitchen with coffee, tea and water; meeting-room credits every month; and up to two access cards for 24/7 access. Boardrooms for eight to thirty people are booked by the hour.

Desks start from €200 a month on a 12-month plan, and a day pass is €20, both excluding VAT. We provide a lease agreement for the use of space, dedicated or coworking, which you can use with regulators. The B2B Malta team in the same building prepares business plans, funding applications, feasibility studies and market research.

A tour takes about 30 minutes.

Reception, with the BUSINESSLABS ring cut into the desk front

Before you sign

What to check

  1. PermitIf a licence depends on your premises, ask for the planning permit and check its use class.
  2. AccessAsk which hours you can work and how many access cards come with the office.
  3. Meeting roomsCheck their sizes, how you book them and how much use the fee includes.
  4. Visitors and postAsk who receives your visitors, post and couriers, and during which hours.
  5. InternetAsk what happens if a line or the power fails.
  6. Notice and termRead the term, the notice you must give, and whether the agreement can be extended.
  7. Room to growAsk whether you can move to a larger office as your team grows.
  8. Full costList what the fee includes and whether VAT is added.

Compare like with like: add the fit-out, furniture, utilities, internet and cleaning to a conventional rent, and allow for any deposit, before you set it against a serviced fee. This guide summarises the law as read on 4 November 2026. It is not legal or tax advice: ask your advisers.

Questions

Questions people ask

How much does office space cost in Malta?

It depends on the location, the size, the building and what the fee includes. At BUSINESSLABS, private offices start from €650 a month, excluding VAT, subject to availability and tailored case by case. Desks start from €200 a month on a 12-month plan, excluding VAT.

Does an office lease in Malta have to be in writing?

Yes. Under the Civil Code, a lease of commercial premises made after 1 January 2010 must be in writing. It must state the property, its agreed use, the period, whether and how it can be extended, and the rent and how it is paid. Otherwise the contract is null.

Do I need to register an office lease in Malta?

Not with the Housing Authority. Registration under the Private Residential Leases Act (Cap. 604) is for private residential leases, and that Act does not apply to property not let for a primary residential purpose. We found no register for office leases; ask your lawyer to confirm.

Is VAT charged on office rent in Malta?

Letting immovable property is exempt from VAT in Malta, with exceptions. One is letting by a limited liability company to a person registered under article 10 of the VAT Act, for that person's economic activity. A serviced office also includes services, so ask your tax adviser.

What planning permit does an office need in Malta?

Usually one for office use: Class 4A in the Development Planning (Use Classes) Order, covering financial, professional and other offices. Changing to another class generally needs a permit. Some changes, such as from a shop, start with a notification instead; the Planning Authority can still say, within 30 days, that a permit is needed. DIER's licence for employment agencies asks for a Class 4A(c) permit, or another permit DIER accepts.

Read next

Where to go from here

Sources

  1. Civil CodeCivil Code (Cap. 16), Book Second, Part II, Title IX, Of Contracts of Letting and Hiring: arts 1525, 1531A, 1531L, 1536, 1540, 1556, 1564, 1566 and 1614 (consolidated text, 1 October 2026) ↗
  2. Act X of 2009Civil Code (Amendment) Act, 2009 (Act X of 2009), arts 2 and 7 ↗
  3. Private Residential Leases ActPrivate Residential Leases Act (Cap. 604), arts 3(2)(c) and 4 ↗
  4. Development Planning ActDevelopment Planning Act (Cap. 552), art. 70 ↗
  5. Use Classes OrderDevelopment Planning (Use Classes) Order (S.L. 552.15), art. 3 and the Schedule, Category D, Class 4A ↗
  6. Employment Agencies RegulationsEmployment Agencies Regulations (S.L. 452.130), reg. 5(1)(c) ↗
  7. VAT ActValue Added Tax Act (Cap. 406), Fifth Schedule, Part Two, item 1(1), and Part Five, item 4(2) (consolidated text, 1 October 2026) ↗

Checked on 4 November 2026

The end of the line

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A tour takes about 30 minutes. It starts in a meeting room, where we ask what you need, and then we show you the offices that fit.

Where
Level One, Triq Dun Karm, Birkirkara BKR 9037
Reception
08:00–17:00, Monday to Friday, except public holidays