The government has implemented a regulation on the long-term lease of tourist properties through strata. This regulation, identified as Regulation No. 2023/R-154, was implemented under the Maldives Tourism Act.
The regulation, put on gazette by the ministry of tourism specifies that one or more villas of tourist properties can now be leased for long-term under a stratum.
Strata is a term commonly used in real estate that refers to an "existing building or buildings on a freehold lot that have been subdivided into two or more strata lots." More recently, this definition has expanded to include various other similar real estate properties and arrangements.
Minister of tourism Dr. Abdulla Mausoom said that the new regulation will be beneficial for moderate-tier tourist resort proprietors and owners. It allows them to lease the completed villas of their resorts before the full completion of the resort property.
“This has been implemented with residential tourism kept in focus. Besides expatriates, locals will now be able to take resort villas on long-term lease under the regulation,” the minister said.
The regulation requires the proprietor to register with the Ministry before they can lease the villas under the strata-lease arrangement. Additionally, the lessor must pay a fee of MVR 5,000 to the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) for registering the villas or properties they are strata-leasing.
The lessees have legal easement of visiting the tourist resorts where they took the villas on strata-lease, the regulation said. However, lessees do not have the legal authority to sub-lease the villas they have taken under strata.
Lessors who violate this regulation will be subject to a first-time fine of MVR 25,000, which will increase to MVR 50,000 for a second offense, and MVR 100,000 if the violation occurs over two times.
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