Moving to Malta

1) you should visit malta before making or even thinking of making decisions
2) you should only buy after a year or more on the island.  only 20% of foreigners stay longer than 2 years in Malta, for generally good reasons.

Thanks volcane

1) I have visited Malta in the past but the last time was 14 years ago so I do plan on going out again for some visits.  It does seem almost over developed in some places from what I have seen on various you tube videos.

2) This is a very interesting statistic.  What are the good reasons for not staying longer than 2 years in your view?

Jay

Welcome to the Forum Jay

JayPea wrote:

What are the good reasons for not staying longer than 2 years in your view?

From my understanding, it's down to the size of Malta in comparison to the UK. I've had a few friends that just missed the hectic life a larger country has to offer. A more relaxed lifestyle is not for everyone?

Much have been written about problems in Malta, its not really worth iterating on again it's way too subjective and leads to disagreements on forums like this.

Longer term it's even worse than I said, less than 10% of foreigners that were here in 2010 is here now.  It's not unusual that expats move about of course, but you need to really understand a lot of things when moving here.

Malta's education yields a generally very poor outcome, the government has identified that the population has to grow to 750k (~460k now) and they want to bring that in mainly as foreigners as they have completely tapped out the locals abilities to function at a high level in modern fields.  There were lots written about a gov paper published last November about this you can google it.

So parents really have a lot of questions to ask and answer about the kind of life they want for their kids, education they want, can the private schools support the population growth etc.  Inevitably, I don't think it's wise to let your kid get a Malta-is-home mentality.

This is all against buying - buying makes lots of sense (spot the huge housing demand thats incoming) and I bought a house here after 1 years on the island, but you need to be sure you are financially in a position that you dont get trapped and that you can deal with the fact that selling a house can take up to 5 years or more!

JayPea wrote:

1) I have visited Malta in the past but the last time was 14 years ago so I do plan on going out again for some visits.

14 years is a long time and a lot can change in that time, Youtube is good but you can never really get the true feeling from watching such videos. So as volcane suggests a visit and stay in a number of locations just to get the real feeling and life on the country.

We rent a penthouse and no it does not cost a lot to keep cool or heat.

volcane wrote:

This is all against buying - buying makes lots of sense (spot the huge housing demand thats incoming) and I bought a house here after 1 years on the island, but you need to be sure you are financially in a position that you dont get trapped and that you can deal with the fact that selling a house can take up to 5 years or more!

A really interesting post, I am at the very beginning of my research so understand there is a lot to consider and research thoroughly and my kids come first.  Education is a big deal for me.

Why can it take so long to sell a house with the huge housing demand? Is it a case that supply CURRENTLY outstrips demand?  There seems to be an awful lot of construction going on from general property searches lots of new flats and apartments for sale.  Is this likely to change given the governments plans you mention.

Thanks,
Jay

We have lived here for almost five years and the same houses are still up for sale, probably because they are over priced for what they are and the owners not desperate for the money. We rent here like many people as it gives you the freedom to move around especially if you find out that the properties nearby are holiday let’s with a lot of noise, we now live in a residential area which is much quieter.
We moved here for our retirement and would not consider going back to the UK, most of the expats who do not stay probably leave because of work.
I don’t know if I could live on Malta as Gozo is quieter and a slower way of life.

JayPea wrote:

Why can it take so long to sell a house with the huge housing demand? Is it a case that supply CURRENTLY outstrips demand?  There seems to be an awful lot of construction going on from general property searches lots of new flats and apartments for sale.  Is this likely to change given the governments plans you mention.

I guess it's the usual market factors, location, price, condition.

I live in a 100s of years old house of character in a rural part of Malta, I suspect I will struggle.

I couldn't live in Sliema/Gzira/St Julians where probably I would not have struggled with a sell.  Valletta is not your typical capital city, I can't imagine anyone choosing to live there.

I suspect if we do stay for another 4ish years I'll probably have to buy another place and sell this one to be nearer to the private schools so perhaps buying here was not the best idea, so it goes.  My place is high spec with double glazing, underfloor heating and all room airconditioning so perhaps I won't struggle, who knows.

The locals tend to try to sell unrestored things or shells and this is a whole different story, if you do not know local worksman you can trust just restoring a house can take 5 years - I rented a restored house in Mosta and that's how it was.  Even if you did it can take forever.

It's a challenging situation for sure, new houses are being build at a rapid pace but my days of living in cramped flat complexes with idiots all around me is over so .. where we live is in Malta but its dead like Gozo and rural etc

Hi all-interesting post.were over in Malta next month (again) looking at property to rent (or buy).the bit of this post that caught my eye was the time it takes locals to restore a place.....I'm a gas engineer who also does refurbs,obviously floors (joists etc) Windows,bathrooms,well the who 9yards ect.
Does anyone living in Malta think I'd be ok for work in this respect?
Many thanks to those who read this
Phil

Ollyolly wrote:

Hi all-interesting post.were over in Malta next month (again) looking at property to rent (or buy).the bit of this post that caught my eye was the time it takes locals to restore a place.....I'm a gas engineer who also does refurbs,obviously floors (joists etc) Windows,bathrooms,well the who 9yards ect.
Does anyone living in Malta think I'd be ok for work in this respect?

there is quite the cottage industry of handy man, white van men, car cleaners etc all British with expat clients - and presumably locals too.  You'll have to have pretty strong Facebook skills to market yourself etc and word of mouth from satisfied customers is king

The problem with houses here is that the stones and general work is done very differently from what you might expect back in the UK, it's either shockingly poor quality or like my house made entirely from ancient sand stone that presumably you do not have experience in.  Lots of folk knowledge passed between people working on old houses

But there's a lot of new build stuff too,

Not as a gas engineer as only bottled gas here!

GozoMo wrote:

Not as a gas engineer as only bottled gas here!

yes but gas water boilers are becoming very popular

Not mains gas though, we never even had that in the UK where we lived.

Thanks to all who answered......I've experience in old old houses also ,18th century also...I also do plumbing (obviously),and from previous visits I feel no need to bring my bottled gas gear with me.same as here as far as I can see in that people change over their own gas or run a "line"...
For the past 18years I have never advertised as all my work is "word of mouth"....
I just found 5yrs for the locals to do a house may be an awful lot longer than people would like it to take and there may be a real chance of a bit of work.

I don’t know whether you could get any building jobs with locals without speaking Maltese.

Mo I'm working on that lol...

Good luck, hope you find something.

Ollyolly wrote:

Thanks to all who answered......I've experience in old old houses also ,18th century also...I also do plumbing (obviously),and from previous visits I feel no need to bring my bottled gas gear with me.same as here as far as I can see in that people change over their own gas or run a "line"...
For the past 18years I have never advertised as all my work is "word of mouth"....
I just found 5yrs for the locals to do a house may be an awful lot longer than people would like it to take and there may be a real chance of a bit of work.

I think you will find it very difficult to find work with locals as they usually 'know someone' and will naturally use friends and family. Your business would would have to rely mostly on expats.
As GozoMo says, gas is all bottled, plumbing is not conventional and is virtually all plastic so no specific skills required other than knowing which pipe goes where. Be aware also that the vast majority of expats rent and only a small minority buy and possibly need a builder/handyman.

Ray

Will bear in mind thank you..yes I know the plumbing is "different " to the way it's done in the uk.last time in Malta I spoke to a guy who is Maltese with his own plumbing business.arranged a meet with him before I visited..
If I don't work I'll just go dotty lol
Also been looking at the car auctions as a possible way to stay busy ....I've owned and bought and repaired and sold cars since I was 14...I also know a Maltese  paint sprayer over there.....been looking at permits for boat trips aswell.
So as you can see I'm trying to look at all possible ways.
A friend of mine runs diving trips to Malta ,they need accommodation,transport etc....my mind is in overdrive lol

Thanks mo

I will need some work done on my place - I live in a 'condo' type building... Send me your phone number and/or email and I'll check with you later.  I'll be moving in next month and have some work already scheduled with tradesmen referred by friends but I'll have more work later and we can have a chat if you're so inclined.

Hi there...yes no problem ***. I'm over next week if you'd like me to look at anything and or coffee and chat to tell me what you have planned.
Cheers phil