Do I need a licence to Airbnb my property in Malta?

Yes. Offering property to tourists as holiday accommodation in Malta is licensed by the Malta Tourism Authority, and the licence must be in place before guests stay. The MTA's own material is the authority on the current requirements for your property.

What happens if I short-let without a licence in Malta?

You are operating a licensable activity unlicensed, which is an enforcement matter with penalties that can exceed €10,000, alongside the practical costs: platforms and insurers increasingly require the licence, and an unlicensed operation cannot honestly be insured, managed or sold as what it is.

How much does a short-let licence cost in Malta?

The MTA publishes the current fee structure and it depends on the classification your property falls under. This page deliberately does not restate figures that the MTA updates; check the MTA's current schedule directly.

Does the licence transfer if I sell my short-let property?

Operator and use changes are matters the MTA's rules address; a buyer should verify the licensing position with the MTA as part of due diligence rather than assume continuity. A property with its licensing in order is worth more to exactly that buyer.

The short-let licence in Malta: what the MTA requires

Letting Maltese property to tourists is a licensed activity: the Malta Tourism Authority licenses holiday accommodation, and hosting without a licence is an enforcement risk with real penalties, not a paperwork technicality. This page states what is required at the level we can source, cites the MTA for every requirement, and tells you exactly where the authoritative detail lives.

Who licenses short lets: The MTA
When: Before the first guest
Penalties: Can exceed €10,000
Every requirement's source: The MTA itself

Before licensing anything, make sure short-letting actually beats long-letting and selling for your property. The comparison page has the live numbers.

First check the three-way decision

Planning to short-let compliantly?

Tell us where the property is and we will send the locality's live long-let benchmark for comparison, plus the order-of-operations checklist from this page in one printable email.

The obligation, stated plainly

Offering Maltese property to tourists as holiday accommodation is a licensable activity under Malta's tourism legislation, and the licensing authority is the Malta Tourism Authority. The licence attaches to the operation of the premises as tourist accommodation and must be in place before guests stay, not regularised afterwards. Operating unlicensed is an enforcement matter, with penalties that can exceed €10,000.

This page deliberately does not paraphrase the MTA's current application forms, fee schedule or premises standards, because those are the MTA's to publish and they move. Every operational specific, which classification your property falls under, what the current fees are, what the premises must provide, comes from the MTA directly, and the links in the Sources section below are the authoritative starting point. What this page adds is the decision-level picture: what is licensed, why it matters, and what an owner should do in what order.

Why this is not a technicality

Malta's short-let stock has grown faster than its licensed stock: industry counts reported during 2026 put Airbnb-listed Maltese properties meaningfully above the licensed total, implying a substantial unlicensed tail. That gap is precisely what enforcement exists for, and it also shapes the commercial reality: platforms and insurers increasingly ask for the licence, and a licence number displayed on a listing is a trust signal guests have learned to look for.

The economics point the same way. The licence cost is small against a season's revenue, while an enforcement action is not, and an unlicensed operation cannot honestly be sold, insured or handed to a manager. If short-letting is worth doing, it is worth doing licensed; if the numbers only work unlicensed, the three-way decision page will show you that the honest answer was long-letting all along.

The order of operations for a new host

The sensible sequence for an owner starting from zero:

Decide the arm first. Run the short-let versus long-let versus sell comparison before touching any application. Licensing effort is wasted if the arithmetic was never in short-letting's favour.
Establish your property's position with the MTA. Identify the classification your property falls under and the current requirements and fees from the MTA's own material, before spending on the premises.
Prepare the premises to the stated standards. Bring the property to what the MTA's current standards require for your classification, and keep the evidence.
Obtain the licence, then list. Licence in hand, list the property, and display the licence details where the listing platforms ask for them.
Keep it current. Renewals, changes of operator and changes of use all matter to the MTA. Treat the licence as part of operating, not a one-off form.

Sources

Malta Tourism Authority (The licensing authority for tourist accommodation: requirements, applications, obligations and enforcement)
Laws of Malta (legislation.mt) (The Malta Travel and Tourism Services Act, under which accommodation is licensed)

Common questions

Do I need a licence to Airbnb my property in Malta?: Yes. Offering property to tourists as holiday accommodation in Malta is licensed by the Malta Tourism Authority, and the licence must be in place before guests stay. The MTA's own material is the authority on the current requirements for your property.
What happens if I short-let without a licence in Malta?: You are operating a licensable activity unlicensed, which is an enforcement matter with penalties that can exceed €10,000, alongside the practical costs: platforms and insurers increasingly require the licence, and an unlicensed operation cannot honestly be insured, managed or sold as what it is.
How much does a short-let licence cost in Malta?: The MTA publishes the current fee structure and it depends on the classification your property falls under. This page deliberately does not restate figures that the MTA updates; check the MTA's current schedule directly.
Does the licence transfer if I sell my short-let property?: Operator and use changes are matters the MTA's rules address; a buyer should verify the licensing position with the MTA as part of due diligence rather than assume continuity. A property with its licensing in order is worth more to exactly that buyer.