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Is this the case or am I prejudiced

janagn
#1
Hi all,

My wife has been for almost a week now in Malta looking for a house of a standard we have used to live in UK with our two kids. Well, I am getting a little bit dissapointed as days goes by and we are being presented either with concrete boxes (to say the least) or with grannies' houses. Not sure if I am prejudiced but I see no point to kiss bye bye my garden and my green for some "sun" and finally to get the sun but no place to enjoy it. So up to now we have seen dark houses (so called maisonettes), non existent balconies, box rooms, "concrete yards" surrounded by high walls (more like a prison) and the views (admitably not by the sea) are usually something that looks like a no mans land with rubbish and old white appliances dumped left and right. Is this really the housing situation? I mean, is there a place for rent with a descent garden for kids to play, not surrounded by a white concrete wall, in an one or two story house? Three bedrooms would be great and balcony not necessary as the garden will be the focal point. Am I asking something out of the Maltese standards?

Kind Regards
Yiannis
See also
tearnet
#2
Its a small island with lots of people living on it,not sure what you expected.
Did you move to Malta without researching the housing situation?
You can get what you are looking for but it will cost you, Lots , remember its not England, its MALTA.

Terry
G
#3
What parts of Malta are you looking in ? Places like that exist - I know of loads in Gozo, and I'm sure there are plenty in the more rural parts of Malta.
ricky
#4
Hi Yiannis,

what you are describing is the reallity of living in Malta.

What you are looking for might exist but it will be very expensive. You should try one of the villa locations like High Ridge, Madliena or go out to one of the villages or maybe somewhere in the south like Marsascala.

Cheers
Ricky
Toon
#5
they do exist but as others have already said they are very very expensive - are you talking about buying or renting....?

maybe you should have asked these questions before committing to coming here. With respect not knowing what the housing situation is and how affordable what you are looking for is? seems a little silly.

sorry but it s malta not england, if you really want england then maybe here isnt the answer.....
janagn
#6
Hi and thank you for the answers. Well first we have not move technically yet. It is my wife looking for accommodation right now so we are in a sense "investigating" the situation. In fact the first time we visited the island back in March I sensed that things were like this but given the "10 days context" you keep your hopes high for the "next time" (which is happening right now). So to get back to the constructive part of the chat. I am looking to rent a place for 2 or 3 years (I guess this is what we call long lease) not in Gozo as our jobs will be in Birkikara and Msida and of course "commuting" within Malta island is not a problem (given the fact that once we used to live in Stirliing and work in Glasgow). When you say expensive what short of money are we talking about? My ceiling at present is 1000 euros maybe 1100...

Thank you again
Yiannis
ricky
#7
Hi Yiannis,

what you are looking for is most probably a townhouse with a larger back garden (will normally be surrounded by high walls) or a house/villa in one of the better residential areas.Maltese townhouses can be very charming but not really British -)))Make sure it is in decent condition ( windows that close, a roof that doesn't leak and so on).

From 1000 聙 upwards might get you a suitable place in Birkirkara/Attard or Mosta . The more open you want to have it means going into smaller villages. All the bigger towns are more or less built up close together unless you are somewhere on the outskirts.

Anywhere closer to the sea will probably be upwards of 1500 聙.

Be carefull about the area (noise,building,loud students and so on) before you sign a long lease! Go there at different times of the day and just walk around the area.

I wish you luck with your search.

Cheers
ricky
janagn
#8
Thank you Ricky.... the quest continues today as well :P

Yiannis
ash73
#9
We moved here a year ago and I would have loved to find a place with a garden for the kids. I miss watching them on the swings and slide in the garden and washing their playhouse!!. Anyway we found a duplex 3 bedroom apartment within a gated complex and the bonus was a ground floor patio all within budget in Sliema.聽 Bingo I thought, somewhere the kids to play as no sun on it after 1pm.. First week we were here kids were playing on the patio everyday until the complaints started coming in,(not being loud, building lego!!)so now I have a patio but kids are not allowed make noise.. But the dogs are allowed go mad every night... My point is, just be very very careful, check out everything.
john2011
#10
Janagn, Malta is a small rock island and everything is built simple, sometimes, so much simple that quality of construction doesn't meet european standards.
Yes there is rubbish everywhere, almost no place for a good hike. Summers are terribly hot and winters.. cold.
Welcome to Malta my friend.
janagn
#11

john2011 wrote:

Janagn, Malta is a small rock island and everything is built simple, sometimes, so much simple that quality of construction doesn't meet european standards.
Yes there is rubbish everywhere, almost no place for a good hike. Summers are terribly hot and winters.. cold.
Welcome to Malta my friend.


Ok, I am not going to get sooo disappointed but since you touched the subject, I noticed that houses have no heating because "winters" are mild. How does this go along with what you say about "cold winter"? I mean, it shocked me because as you can see from my flags, I am Greek, which is next door, and I know that you cannot live without central heating in Athens between October and end of March. I guess I will need some kind of heating system but the electric radiators as far as I know are a financial disaster. What are the options?

Toon
#12
The winters here are still warmer than UK for sure however the rains and humidity get into the walls and stays there making you feel damp and colder inside the house than outside...its theother way round in summer the heat from the sun stays in the stone making your property feel like an oven... In winter you will need a form of heating - the choice is yours. Most people opt for the portable gas heaters, or you can use the air con units as these are multi purpose, but be sure to have the best you can afford of a high energy efficiency rating...forget the portable ones they are not too efficient. Air con has heating air conditioning and dehumidifying options. My further advise would be to find a property that faces south for the sun most of the day to heat your main living space, have properties either side of you limiting the amount of exterior walls to get wet/damp and exposure to the cold winds. There arent many properties with central heating except maybe the very expensive villas.
janagn
#13
OK, just a quick update for everybody's info. As I said we were looking something with a garden, a balcony if possible in a detached or semidetached structure. Priorities were (list of importance):
1. Kids area to play (aka garden)
2. House if possible rather apartment
3. Views
4. Modern
5. Balcony.

The first finding is that for some reason estate agents in Malta do not photograph the gardens and balconies (if any). Like they don't exists. People seem to be more focused on "style" and internal areas.

Second is that when you find a garden is a Med garden i.e dry. No grass etc, so people don't seem to take too much attention to it. They also seem to partition the garden with concrete 10cm high small walls (tomatoes there, basil there, oregano at the next partition etc).

Third is that old houses, less contemporary tend to have gardens or in general outside areas while modern constructions seems to focus on style while any external features are yards with tiles or occupied by a small swimming pool.

Price wise, between 1000 and 1500 euros you can get a modern apartment with sizable balcony and urban views. Or you can get a villa with sea view but not any external features. Older houses start at 700 euro to 1000 and may include balcony and a garden but will require your attention to bring it back to life. The price difference I guess between 700 and 1000 goes by the style of the house. There are also some "holiday options" in long lease between 900 and 1200. There are modern constructions with swimming pools however their problem is that have the "holiday feeling" and are missing certain "house features". For example yesterday night I was just about to sign a contract for one of them when I realized that it had no living room other than a kitchen dinning room area. The "living room" was the yard with the pool. The problem with this is that it is nice during summer but not very practical during winter. So the verdict:

Got an old semidetached house (or something like this) in Rabat with a garden that I will work to bring it to life, a big balcony where you can spend your day watching the kids playing and relaxing. There are no views but anyway the house is low so it is not expected to have any. At least your views are not obstructed by the wall of the next house. With three bedrooms but obviously dated deco, it has a fire place that should be useful during winter. For 750 euros pcm, I think I will be able to afford some IKEA redecoration and bring the house to the 21st century.

Last advice, be very specific to the agents as they tend to follow their cultural priorities and not yours and the sense of distance is proportional to the size of the island. That means that they assume that Rabat is "far" from "the center" so they will not show you places there at once assuming that you want something as close as possible to the densely populated areas. Of course for someone who was commuting between Stirling and Glasgow, Rabat to Birkikara is a morning stroll.

Anyway, I will keep you posted (unless if you don't want) on how the relocation project goes and how the house is coming together along with any problems (there will be) appearing.

Regards
Yiannis
Toon
#14
very true - but this is malta and not little england or scotland...so for what you want then your comments sound like a plan for you to achieve your goal. good luck.
rooikat
#15
Hi Yiannis,
Thank you for sharing - one's decision about the property and vicinity to live in is an extremely important part of settling into a new country. We went through these decisions when we settled in the UK from South Africa 11 years ago, and will be doing the same when we settle in Malta at the end of this year. The first decision is not necessarily always the correct one, but you have put a lot of effort into it and I'm holding thumbs for you that it's the right one! The 'settled' expats probably don't need your new found 'wisdom', but those of us (and there are many) embarking on the same journey will certainly enjoy your input:)
B
#16
Hi can anyone tell me why all you people want to live in malta? I have read so many post and most of them seem to be negative. What i cant understand is why young families are opting to live in a country that has no future for their kids. I live in australia which in my opinion is a good country if you want to make money. But of course you have to put in the hours. On the other hand if you go to a country to make money and you save it, at lest you can move to a place like malta and not have to worry wether your funds will last. Reading some of these post gives me the impresion most of you are poor. Sorry but thats what it seems to me
G
#17
I'm not young and don't have kids, but I live here because, in no particular order

weather
cost of living
way of life
people
B
#18
Isnt the cost of living expensive
G
#19
1. no council/property taxes
2. no tax on capital brought into Malta, and no tax on income earned and left outside of Malta
3. living expenses 20% lower than UK

add up all those, and saves me at least 30% v living in UK
G
#20
for those renting property, Malta is much cheaper than UK
scubaboy
#21

banger wrote:

Reading some of these post gives me the impresion most of you are poor. Sorry but thats what it seems to me


hahaha.... sorry Banger but what gives you this "impression".??

and then you say

"Isnt the cost of living expensive"

how can we be poor and then live somewhere that the cost of living is expensive???

I agree with George..

Weather
Way of Life
Cost of Living
The people here...

Great place and for children it is probrably one of the safest places in europe..

G
#22
Oh yes, forgot safety :-)
1 member reacted to this post
janagn
#23

banger wrote:

Hi can anyone tell me why all you people want to live in malta? I have read so many post and most of them seem to be negative. What i cant understand is why young families are opting to live in a country that has no future for their kids. I live in australia which in my opinion is a good country if you want to make money. But of course you have to put in the hours. On the other hand if you go to a country to make money and you save it, at lest you can move to a place like malta and not have to worry wether your funds will last. Reading some of these post gives me the impresion most of you are poor. Sorry but thats what it seems to me


Don't get it mate. Neither the "deductions" nor the attitude. And I am one of those who have not moved yet! First don't get as negative the inquires that people may have about certain aspects of living. It is just questions and there is always a resistance to change attitude (even I do this). Most of the "why(s)" have been already covered by other people, from my side I had the option to move to Australia but it is a whole world apart. Another strong point is the language. It is the only place in EU with Med style living conditions that English are considered official language and as a result it is easier to get a job.

So please be careful when you come to conclusions. We are neither lazy nor we have escaped from council flats. In fact most of us are quite well off people who have an opportunity to burn around 15K in order to move to a more "pleasant environment".

2 members reacted to this post
scubaboy
#24
And some of us earn a VERY good salary in Malta
Toon
#25
ditto to all you guys = havent got a clue where banger gets his ideas form - except to say hes probably looking for a reaction.
G
#26
The other nice thing about Malta is the distinct lack of Aussies :-)
2 members reacted to this post
B
#27
Oh that's not very nice!:)
G
#28
I'm not a nice person
B
#29
I am sure somebody loves you, ha, ha!
Toon
#30
bejesus am agreeing with GnG again....
G
#31

toonarmy9752 wrote:

bejesus am agreeing with GnG again....


steady on, must be heatstroke

Toon
#32

georgeingozo wrote:
toonarmy9752 wrote:

bejesus am agreeing with GnG again....


steady on, must be heatstroke


stressed as just moved so my resistance is low......

1 member reacted to this post
B
#33
Hey georgie why dont you like aussies
B
#34
What happens to you guys when eventually all the taxes geogie mentioned, that you dont have to pay at the moment, but will have to pay one day. Because its a known fact that malta is heavily in bebt. I suppose the money will have to come from somewhere? I myself loves security. Malta doesnt sound secure to me. Could i be wrong again? And georgie all aussies are not like me:lol:
B
#35
Hey geogie i think grotto has a crush on you. You lucky devil
B
#36
I hope i am right about that one!
B
#37
Hi scubaboy i dont know what you do to entertain yourself. Some people say having a couple of beers is enjoyable. You can do that in most countries, you can live in any expensive country in the world and sit on the beach, you dont need money to do that. If you dont have money then all your doing is killing time.
scubaboy
#38

banger wrote:

Hi scubaboy i dont know what you do to entertain yourself. Some people say having a couple of beers is enjoyable. You can do that in most countries, you can live in any expensive country in the world and sit on the beach, you dont need money to do that. If you dont have money then all your doing is killing time.


Hi Banger,

I enjoy living life, and what a better place than here to do it. I don't find it expensive at all and I enjoy eating out and sometimes I even kick back and have a beer.聽

Unfortunately I don't get your point with this one, I am trying to understand whether you think that most people in Malta are poor, or most people on the forum are poor.

Yes siting on the beach is killing time, it's also enjoying a laid back lifestyle, sounds a bit like parts of Australia.

I would dearly love to spend everyday sitting on a beach and chilling out but unfortunately I have to work and doing that here makes it more enjoyable.

Julian.

Toon
#39
well said julian....dont understand what yer beef is banger....
B
#40
What i should have said was i cant understand why would you work in malta.There are so many opportunities all over the world. I would live in malta to, but i couldnt live there and work. I have done that before and lived like most of you , counting my pennies. I came to australia with $100 in my pocket and turned that in to a couple of million. If i stayed in malta i would have been just another poor maltese bastard. I am a believer in making money while your young and enjoying it while you still can. The future is in your hands

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