State ordered to pay Valletta property owner €560,000 for rights breach Court orders state to pay Valletta property owner €560,000 in compensation for being denied his right to enjoy the property for 32 years 7 May 2021, 2:44pm by Matthew Agius The State has been ordered to pay out over half a million euros in compensation to the owner of a commercial property in Valletta for being denied his right to enjoy the property for 32 years – a situation that was caused by Malta’s old rent laws. Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff, presiding the First Hall of the Civil Court in its Constitutional jurisdiction, had been told how the Merchants Street property had been rented in 1964 for LM400 per year and an adjoining St. Paul’s Street property for LM100 in annual rent that the owners could not legally increase or terminate.