Development Height and P35

Policy P35 of the Development Control Design Policy, Guidance and Standards 2015 (DC15) constitutes the principal operative provision regulating building height within the Maltese development control framework.

Its function is not to create autonomous height entitlements but to give technical and design effect to the height limitations already established in statutory Local Plans. In this sense, Policy P35 acts as an interpretative and implementation tool, translating the planning intent of Local Plans into measurable and enforceable vertical parameters expressed in metres, while safeguarding urban form, streetscape coherence, and residential amenity.

At the core of Policy P35 lies the principle that the permissible height of development is first and foremost determined by the Local Plan applicable to the site, which normally expresses height in terms of the number of floors. The role of DC15, through Policy P35, is therefore ancillary and technical: it converts floor-based permissions into a precise vertical envelope, ensuring consistency and certainty in development control.

This conversion exercise is carried out through Annex 2 of DC15, which provides a standardised methodology for translating floors into metres depending on whether a development includes a basement, a semi-basement, or no basement at all. The Annex was introduced in the context of amendments to sanitary regulations which reduced minimum internal heights, thereby allowing the same number of floors to be accommodated within a lower overall vertical extent. Crucially, Annex 2 does not regulate the number of floors that may be constructed; it merely explains how the floors already permitted by the Local Plan are to be measured in vertical terms. Policy P35 makes this linkage explicit, requiring that the Annex be applied whenever height compliance is assessed.

PA Circular 2/24 (issued on 14 February 2024) provides further guidance.

It clarifies and formalises the long-established practice of converting Local Plan building height limitations, expressed in number of floors, into measurable overall heights in metres in accordance with Annex 2 of DC15.

It explains that, following the introduction of Policy P35 in 2015, height control shifted from a floor-based system to one based on numerical vertical dimensions, requiring consistent interpretation across different Local Plans approved between 1995 and 2006. The Circular acknowledges that, while such conversions have been applied in practice for years by the Planning Authority, the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal, and the Courts, they were never previously consolidated into an officially approved comprehensive reference. The Circular therefore was seeking to provide certainty and transparency by formally integrating a comprehensive conversion table into the Local Plans Interpretation Document, replacing earlier interpretative sections and ensuring that height assessments are carried out uniformly, without altering Local Plan entitlements, and subject always to site-specific policies and exclusions such as Urban Conservation Areas and villa or bungalow zones.

Today the proper methodology is clear.

From a legal interpretative perspective, Policy P35 must be read holistically with the Local Plan, Annex 2 of DC15, and other applicable planning instruments, including legal commitments.

Policy P35 does not stop there. It further (among other matters) regulates the treatment of uppermost floors, particularly in relation to setback floors. Where setback floors are permissible under the Local Plan, the policy requires that they be recessed from the principal façade in order to mitigate visual impact, preserve spatial enclosure, and safeguard daylight and sunlight penetration at street level. The acceptability and depth of such setbacks must be assessed in relation to the existing streetscape and to adjacent commitments, with particular sensitivity in narrow streets and consolidated urban environments.

By relying on established conversion methodologies and reading the relevant policies together, the regulatory framework ensures that height is assessed objectively, with due regard to all planning instruments, context and existing legal commitments on site, resulting in decisions that are predictable and aligned with the intended planning strategy.

In practical terms, Policy P35 provides the Planning Authority with a robust and defensible framework for assessing height. It ensures that Local Plan intentions are respected, that height is assessed objectively through a standardised metric conversion, and that broader urban design considerations are properly integrated into decision-making. When correctly applied, Policy P35 does not give rise to conflict between DC15 and Local Plans but rather demonstrates their complementary operation within a coherent planning system.