Kirjiet fi Sliema

Malta’s best-known address for renters, and the one most people picture when they think of moving here. Sliema is dense, walkable and thoroughly urban: a seafront promenade, a shopping street, and behind them a grid of apartment blocks where most of the lettings are. You trade space and quiet for being able to live here without a car.

L-istil ta’ ħajja

Sliema is busy, and it is busy all year rather than only in summer. The Tower Road and Bisazza Street ends are loud, well-lit and full of people; two streets back it settles into ordinary residential blocks. Construction is a persistent fact of life — old blocks are being replaced continually, and a quiet flat can acquire a building site next door with little warning, which is worth asking about before signing. Parking is difficult and residents are frank about it. The compensation is that you will use the car far less than you expect.

Propjetà fi Sliema

Almost everything let in Sliema is an apartment. Stock ranges from unmodernised flats in older blocks — often larger and better value, sometimes tired — through to new developments with lifts, air conditioning and communal parking. Seafront and sea-view flats carry a clear premium over an identical unit one street inland. Furnished lettings are the norm and short supply is rare, though the best-value flats go quickly. Penthouses with terraces are the most sought-after category and the hardest to find.