Register of Property Occupation Act

The Register of Property Occupation Act (the “Act”) has now come into force in Gibraltar for private residential occupiers. The Act requires individuals in occupation of residential property in Gibraltar to make an application to the Registrar of Property Occupation (the “Registrar”) to register the details of all individuals occupying the property.

All private residential property occupiers (i.e. tenants and property owners) are required to make the relevant application to the Registrar within three months of the 24^th February 2022 (i.e. by the 24^th May 2022). Where the application to the register is made by the occupying tenant, the Registrar may request information from the landlord, which has to be provided within a period of 14 days. If you move house in the future, you are also required to update your details on the Register within three months of your occupation of the new property.

The Registrar has the discretion to accept or reject any application submitted and may request further information from the applicant before issuing a decision. The Registrar may also request an inspection of the property. If the Registrar does reject an application, he is required to give notice of the decision in writing. An applicant may appeal the decision of the Registrar within 21 days of the Registrar’s decision, with the appeal to be heard by the Property Occupation Appeals Board.

A property owner or tenant who fails to submit an application within the required time period, knowingly provides false information in the application or does not allow the Registrar to inspect the Property is liable on summary conviction to a fine up to level 4 on the standard scale (i.e. up to £4,000). A landlord may also be liable on summary conviction to a fine up to level 4 on the standard scale (i.e. up to £4,000) if they do not provide the information requested by the Registrar within the required time period.

Landlords may wish to consider, amongst other things, inserting a clause into their tenancy agreements upon renewal which requires the tenant to submit the relevant application to the Registrar within three months of the date of the tenancy agreement, as required by the Act.

The property department at Triay Lawyers are happy to assist individuals with any enquiries that may arise in relation to the above and can be contacted by e-mail at property@triay.com