A developer who obtained a permit to construct two penthouses on a block of apartments, was ordered by a court not to start construction works as this would breach the rights of two couples living in the block.

In its decision, the court, presided by Mr Justice Mark Chetcuti, upheld the arguments made by Albert and Maria Dolores Attard as well as Raymond and Diane Zammit, who had bought the Xemxija apartments on condition of having access to the roof.

The court heard that this condition was laid out in the property purchase agreement which the couples had signed when acquiring the apartments from DDR Company Ltd in 1994.

In 2009, the couples learnt about a development application for the construction of two penthouses filed by Sliema Chalet Company Limited and Ian Sultana who had acquired the block from DDR Ltd. Subsequently, the couples took the developer to court after it transpired that they had been granted the development permit by the planning authority.

On its part, Sliema Chalet Company Ltd argued that the couples would still be granted access to the roof, albeit on top of the penthouses. 

Court-appointed expert Alan Saliba, however, had concluded that the size of the penthouse roof would be smaller and could not be used for drying clothes. Furthermore, it would no longer be accessible by lift and the door would be just 1.2 metres high.

For this reason the court upheld the arguments made by the couples and declared that the developer had no right to construct the penthouses.

Lawyer Claudio Zammit appeared for the couples while Beppe Fenech Adami appeared for the developer.

 

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