Countries · Italy
What to check in Italy before you sign.
You cannot assume a building was put up legally and entered correctly in the land registry. That decides whether the contract holds and whether a bank will lend.
What costs the most money in Italy
For every 100 authorised homes there were 15.1 unauthorised builds nationwide in 2022. In the south it is 40.2, in Basilicata 54.1 and in Campania 50.4. In the north the figure is below 5.
Purchase costs
2 to 9%
of the purchase price, on top of the price in the listing.
- Registration tax, first home2%
- Registration tax, second property9 %
- Registration tax, minimum amount1.000 €
- Mortgage and cadastral tax€50 each, fixed
- Purchase from a developer, first home4% VAT
Source: Agenzia delle Entrate, guidance of October 2025. Anyone who expressly asks for it at the notary is taxed on the cadastral value instead of the purchase price. That also saves a further 30 percent of the notary's fee. It cannot be made up for later.
The trap for tenants
Where the landlord has opted for the flat-rate rental tax, the rent may not be raised for the whole term. That holds even if the contract carries an adjustment clause. Many tenants pay the annual index increase all the same. Anyone who has overpaid can claim it back, but only within six months of returning the flat.
Source: Agenzia delle Entrate and Law 431/1998, Article 13
Energy and the duty to renovate
A missing energy certificate at sale costs between €3,000 and €18,000. For a tenancy agreement it is €300 to €1,800, and leaving the energy figures out of the listing costs €500 to €3,000.
Source: Legislative Decree 192/2005, Article 15
Certificate validity: 10 years
What to watch for in Italy in particular
Every purchase contract for an existing building must carry the cadastral data and the reference to the filed plan. It must also carry the declaration that the actual state matches it. Otherwise the contract is void. Second, if part of the purchase price is concealed, the protection of the cadastral value falls away.
A penalty surcharge of 50 to 100 percent then lands on the tax difference. That hits the buyer, because the tax is owed by them.
Source: Law 52/1985, Article 29, and Agenzia delle Entrate, 2025
Official maps in Italy
5 map layers lie directly over your property.
Not as an average for the district, but at your exact address, with a legend and a visible source. Every layer can be switched on separately.
Check it yourself
The official bodies in Italy.
These bodies are grouped by category: property and encumbrances, energy, natural hazards and more. The report on your property names the responsible bodies, with the date checked and a link. A figure you cannot verify is not a figure, it is a claim.
over 1,000
official data sources
4
categories
What this costs
€3,000 to €18,000
is the fine for a missing energy certificate when selling. For a tenancy agreement it is 300 to 1,800 euros.
Source: Legislative decree 192/2005, article 15
15.1
unauthorised buildings go up for every 100 approved homes. In the south it is 40.2. Without a correct land registry entry the purchase contract is void.
Source: ISTAT, the Italian statistics office, BES 2024 report, estimate by the Cresme building research institute, reference year 2022
These numbers arise after the signature. The report does the maths before it.
The market in Italy
766,757 residential transactions in 2025, up 6.4 percent, with a turnover of around €124 billion. In the south the average price per home is below €116,000, in the centre around €188,000.
Source: Agenzia delle Entrate, Rapporto immobiliare, 21.05.2026
A real dossier from this country
See what the analysis found on an actual listing in Italy — every figure with its source.
Open the example dossierOther countries