solar
Can a landlord get the Malta solar grant? No, and here is the clause
A landlord cannot get the Malta solar grant. The 2026 RES guidelines exclude property used principally for business purposes and name letting on a commercial basis as one of those purposes, even where the tenant's use is residential. A landlord who installs anyway pays the full cost including 18% VAT, with no grant.
Can a landlord get the Malta solar grant?
No. The 2026 RES scheme is for domestic use, and the guidelines exclude any property used principally for business purposes. Letting on a commercial basis counts as a business purpose. Your tenant living there as a home does not change the answer. A landlord pays the full installed cost, including 18% VAT.
What do the guidelines actually say about rented property?
They exclude a grant where the property is used principally for business purposes “including the letting of the property on a commercial basis (even if the tenants’ use of the property will be residential)”. Separately, the definition of domestic use excludes use by landlords or developers. Two clauses, one outcome.
The bracketed half of that sentence is the part that catches people out. Owners reasonably assume the test is whether somebody lives in the property. It is not. The test is what the owner is doing with it. A three-bedroom maisonette occupied by a family of four is still excluded if the owner is collecting rent on a commercial basis.
Who can apply, and who is shut out?
Eligibility turns on tenure and on use. The table below sets out the positions the published guidelines are explicit about. Anything not listed here we have not verified, and we are not going to fill the gaps with guesses.
| Situation | Can apply under the 2026 RES scheme |
|---|---|
| Owner living in the property | Yes, if the other conditions are met |
| Owner letting the property on a commercial basis | No |
| Property used principally for business purposes | No |
| Developer holding the property as stock | No |
| Joint owner applying for the others, with their agreement | Yes |
| Long leaseholder, more than 5 years remaining, plus owner consent | Yes |
| Applicant or household member granted a similar system since 2010 | No |
| Household with an open grant offer under a similar scheme | No |
| Installation with an active feed-in tariff allocation | No |
How much money does the exclusion actually cost a landlord?
Up to €3,000 on the photovoltaic system, and up to €6,000 more on a battery where one is in scope. The combined household maximum of €9,000 is derived by adding the two published caps, not printed by REWS. A landlord forfeits all of it.
| Grant element | Rate | Cap per system | Second cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| PV with hybrid inverter | 65% of eligible cost | €3,000 | €645 per kWp |
| Battery storage, only bundled with new PV | 75% of eligible battery cost | €6,000 | €600 per kWh |
| Combined maximum (derived, not published by REWS) | €9,000 |
Whichever cap binds first is the one that applies. The per kWp cap binds below 4.651 kWp, because 3,000 divided by 645 is 4.651. Above that size, the flat €3,000 per system cap takes over. Note also that on 13 July 2026 REWS stopped accepting Part A applications for battery-only and hybrid-inverter retrofits. Battery support now survives only bundled with a new PV system.
What does the arithmetic look like side by side?
Below is a 5 kWp example. The €6,250 eligible cost is illustrative only. It is not a market price, and we have not verified typical installed costs in Malta. Eligible cost is VAT-inclusive and covers modules, inverters, support frame, battery equipment, interface modules, works and certification.
| Line | Owner occupier | Landlord |
|---|---|---|
| Eligible cost, 5 kWp (illustrative) | €6,250 | €6,250 |
| 65% of eligible cost | €4,062.50 | Not available |
| Per kWp cap, 5 x 645 | €3,225 | Not available |
| Per system cap | €3,000 | Not available |
| Grant paid (lowest figure binds) | €3,000 | €0 |
| Owner pays | €3,250 | €6,250 |
Same roof, same equipment, roughly double the outlay. That is the whole of the landlord question in one row.
Why does the split incentive make this worse than it looks?
Because the person paying is not the person saving. The landlord funds the system. The tenant’s electricity bill falls. Unless the rent is renegotiated, or the bill sits in the landlord’s name, the money leaves one pocket and the benefit lands in another, with no grant closing the gap.
That is the standard split incentive problem in rented housing, and the scheme does not attempt to bridge it. If you are letting and still want to install, you need a mechanism that returns some of the value to you, whether that is a bill in your own name with a service charge, or a rent position agreed openly with the tenant. Worth noting for anyone comparing quotes: discounts or offers (cash or in kind), extended warranty beyond the standard 10-year warranty, and import duty on overseas purchases are all deducted from eligible cost.
What if the property is only sometimes let?
The guidelines use the word principally. A property let for most of the year is used principally for letting. Beyond that, we have not verified how REWS assesses mixed use, part-year holiday letting, or a room let inside an owner-occupied home. Do not assume it is fine.
The practical point is procedural. Part A must be submitted before purchase and installation, and applicants are advised not to enter a binding contractual commitment or pay any money, including a deposit, before receiving a grant offer letter. Processing is generally about five weeks for a complete application, with no period established at law. If your use of the property is genuinely mixed, ask REWS in writing before you commit, not after.
What are a landlord’s real options?
There are three. Buy the system at full price with no grant. Do not buy it. Or change the underlying position, by occupying the property yourself, or by having a qualifying long leaseholder apply with your consent. Nothing else in the published scheme is open to you.
Buying at full price is a legitimate choice, but it is a different calculation, not the same one with a smaller number attached. Without the grant, the result depends heavily on what the exported electricity is worth. We have not verified the current feed-in tariff rates for grant-assisted or non-grant installations. Those figures are being checked against the statutory instrument and this page will be updated when they are confirmed. Until then we will not publish a payback period for a rental, because any such figure would rest on a number we cannot yet stand behind.
One further condition catches owners of older systems: the installation must have no active feed-in tariff allocation, and any previously allocated guaranteed period must have expired.
What should you do next?
If you live in the property, check the prior-grant lockout and the feed-in tariff condition before anything else, then submit Part A before you buy. If you let the property, the grant is closed to you, and the honest position is that we cannot yet show you the non-grant arithmetic. We will publish it when the tariff figures are verified.
Questions
- I rent out one apartment and live in another. Can I claim the grant on the one I live in?
- The exclusion attaches to the property, not to you as a person. An application for the home you live in is not blocked simply because you also own a property that is let. The separate constraint is the prior-grant lockout: if you or any member of your household received a grant for a similar system since 2010, you are ineligible for another.
- Can my tenant apply instead of me?
- Only in narrow cases. The scheme accepts an owner, an emphyteuta, or a long leaseholder with more than the durability period remaining (more than five years), plus the owner's consent. An ordinary residential tenant on a one or two year lease does not meet that tenure test. A long leaseholder occupying the property may do.
- What if I install now and only start letting the property in a couple of years?
- We have not verified how REWS treats a change of use after the grant is paid, and we will not guess. What the documents do say is that the grant offer runs for eight months covering installation, commissioning and Part B, and that Part A is a declaration about the property. If your plan is to let, say so before you apply.
- Is there a reduced VAT rate on solar for landlords or anyone else in Malta?
- No. Residential solar in Malta carries the 18% standard rate. The VAT Act contains no occurrences of "solar" or "photovoltaic", and the Eighth Schedule reduced rates of 7% and 5% do not list photovoltaic equipment. Any advertisement offering 0% or 5% VAT on solar in Malta is stating something that is not true.
- Can I still sell exported electricity if I buy without a grant?
- Export arrangements exist, but we have not verified the current rates or the terms that apply to a non-grant installation on a let property. We are checking those against the statutory instrument and will publish the figures once confirmed. Until then, treat any payback number you are shown for a rental as unsupported.
- Does the grant affect what I can claim for tax?
- The scheme states that the applicant must not claim any tax rebate, deduction or input VAT credit on the eligible expenditure. That condition binds grant recipients. How expenditure on a let property is treated outside the scheme is a question for your accountant, and we have not verified it.
Sources
We publish the working. We do not install anything. How this works