The developers who sold Roderick Galdes a €140,000 penthouse and garage are insisting the affordable housing minister did not get preferential treatment, as most of the properties in the development complex were sold at an even lower price per square metre.
Joseph Portelli’s Excel Investments told Times of Malta on Sunday that 43 units of the 75 properties sold at the Ħal Gelmus development were sold at a lower price per square metre. Four of these were penthouses.
The company’s spokesperson reached out after Times of Malta confirmed on Sunday that a smaller penthouse in the same complex, sold for €45,000 more without a garage, two years before the minister bought his.
Last week, Times of Malta revealed that Galdes had bought a duplex penthouse and garage in the newly-built Ħal Gelmus complex in Victoria in January 2025 for a bargain price of €140,000, having signed a promise of sale the previous year.
Galdes provided the reservation agreement, which says a €5,000 deposit was paid for the property in 2021, years before he signed the promise of sale. But developers and architects who spoke to Times of Malta described the practice of reserving a property at a fixed price for several years as “unheard of”.
A promise-of-sale agreement seen by Times of Malta, which was signed in July 2022, shows that Excel Homes agreed to sell a smaller, one-bedroom penthouse in the same complex for 24.3% more: a total of €185,000.
But on Sunday, the developers said selling price data “proves that minister Galdes did not receive preferential treatment”.
Across the development, prices ranged from €1,004/m² to €2,883/m² depending on size, layout and orientation. Galdes purchased the third smallest unit – a four-room 84m² penthouse – at €1,487/m², paying €125,000 for the apartment and €15,000 for a garage, the developers said.
This puts him at the midpoint mark in terms of price per square metre paid, they added.
“Fifteen of the properties bought at a lower price were sold in 2025 under similar reservation agreements, confirming that the minister was not given any preferential treatment there anyway.
“Therefore, any accusations that the minister was given special treatment are malicious and unfounded. The attempt to link this minor property sale to a leasing of units to the Housing Authority is also completely unjustified and further proves that this story is based on false pretences.”
A spokesperson said the developers simply participated in a government scheme open to all property owners to lease their properties to the state for a 10-year term at very low prices and profit margins.
“We did not require, nor did we receive, any preferential treatment in this regard. We just applied for a government programme that has over 1,300 properties registered in it and can be taken advantage of by every other property owner on the island.
“The reality is that few owners would agree to such low rental rates, but for a company like ours, the guarantee of income from one client over 10 years was considered a suitable option in our ongoing efforts to diversify and strengthen our financial model.”
They added that the fact that the public scheme requires no special treatment or ministerial intervention showed that the property sale in 2021 had nothing to do with the participation in this scheme.
