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PROPERTY

Six surprising Italian building laws that you might not know about

Italy has a fair share of rules when it comes to building or renovating property – but there are some that you may well find hard to believe.

Published: 12 April 2024 15:31 CEST
Houses in Burano, Venice.
Houses in Burano, a small island in the Venetian lagoon. Photo by Katy Cat on Unsplash

Owning a home in Italy is the dream of a lifetime for many.  

But whether you’ve already bought a casa in the country and are now in the process of renovating it, or just have your eyes set on a picturesque farmhouse in the Tuscan hills, you may already have some level of familiarity with the intricate bureaucracy that goes along with purchasing and revamping property in Italy.

That includes complying with a fairly long series of building regulations, some of which can often be hard to believe, even for locals.

Mandatory bidets

Most Italians can’t begin to imagine a bathroom without a bidet – a low, oval basin which is generally used to wash one’s nether regions (or feet). But that’s not the only reason why the item is a ubiquitous feature in Italian homes.

Bidets are a legal building requirement in Italy as a Ministerial Decree issued in 1975 states that in each house “at least one bathroom must have the following fixtures: a toilet, a bidet, a bathtub or shower, and a sink”.

READ ALSO: Are bidets legally required in Italian homes?

Italian law also says that there should be a minimum distance between the bidet and other bathroom fixtures (for instance, the bidet should be at least 20 centimetres away from both the toilet and the bathtub or shower).

A stylish bathroom

Bathrooms in most countries in the world don’t feature a bidet, but things are quite different in Italy. Photo by Sidekik Media via Unsplash

As outlandish as it may sound, the above requirement is necessary to the issuance of the Certificato di Agibilità, which attests that a building abides by the relevant health and safety regulations and is therefore safe to be occupied.

Bathroom wall tiling requirements 

While we’re on the subject of bathrooms, each Italian municipality (or comune) has its own set of building regulations (or regolamento edilizio, RE), which, among other things, establishes the minimum height of bathroom wall tiling in private homes. 

For instance, in Milan and Naples wall tiles must have a minimum height of 1.80 metres. 

It’s also worth noting that some comuni may not give precise height indications and take the bottom or top of a bathroom’s window as the minimum permissible height.

AC rules

Some parts of the country experience bouts of extreme heat over the summer, and an air-conditioning system is generally the most effective way to keep your Italian house cool over the hot months. But if you’re the owner of a flat, installing an AC system may be a bit of a headache. 

AC system

Installing an AC system in Italy is generally far easier for owners of single-family houses than it is for flat owners. Photo by Carlos Lindner on Unsplash

Specific building regulations may prevent owners from having external AC engines on the building’s facade or demand that AC engines are of the same colour as the building. 

READ ALSO: What are the rules for installing air conditioning in your Italian home?

Flat owners should also be mindful of article 907 of Italy’s Civil Code, which specifies that any type of external construction, including AC engines, should be at least three metres away from the windows or terrace of the floor directly above them to avoid obstructing the view.

Minimum size for windows

Like in other countries, national building regulations establish minimum height and surface requirements for all rooms in private homes. 

For instance, a bedroom for one person must have a surface area of at least 9 square metres in, whereas bedrooms for two people must be at least 14 square metres in size.

But there are size requirements for windows too. In fact, the surface area of a room’s window opening must be at least one eighth of the room’s surface area (e.g., 1.25 square metres for a 10-square-metre room).

Are in-sink garbage disposal units legal?

If you’ve spent any meaningful amount of time in Italy, you may have noticed that in-sink garbage disposal units are nearly non-existent in the country and food scraps are generally kept in a small organic waste container that’s emptied out once or twice a week.

Disposal units (or tritarifiuti in Italian) are technically legal in the country, but, under Italian law, their installation is only possible after “verification of the existence of a depuration system” in the sewer network on the part of its operator and following a notification of successful installation to the water network operator.  

READ ALSO: Sheds and sewage: How neighbour disputes complicate life in Italy

Most Italians prefer to regularly take out their food scraps to their local garbage collection area to the hassle of that procedure.

Keeping plants on the balcony 

Though this is not strictly related to building regulations, it’s still worth a mention for owners with a green thumb.

Some buildings can occasionally prevent flat owners from keeping plants in common areas (like a hallway, or a stairwell landing) to avoid any obstruction to the passage of other residents.

Having plants on a private balcony is generally permitted. However, owners should be cautious when watering them. 

Water dripping from your balcony to the balcony of the flat (or flats) right below on a regular basis may amount to the offence of Reato di getto di cose pericolose (literally, ‘throwing of dangerous things’).

This comes with a fine of up to 206 euros, and in the most serious cases, a jail term of up to a month.

This list is non-exhaustive. If you know of any other surprising building laws in Italy, let us know in the comments below.

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OPINION AND ANALYSIS

Why there are so many derelict houses in Italy – and no-one seems to care

From hilltop towns to seafront promenades, many parts of Italy are blighted by dilapidated buildings left to rot under the sun. So why don't local authorities tear them down and sell off the land? Reporter Silvia Marchetti explains.

Published: 2 April 2024 14:26 CEST
Why there are so many derelict houses in Italy - and no-one seems to care

As many remote Italian towns are desperate to sell off old abandoned buildings – some do so successfully, others struggle – foreigners are often baffled by the fact that there are still so many dilapidated properties in Italy.

In almost any village there are houses in need of repair, covered in moss and vegetation, with broken windows and doors, apparently without owners. 

The main reason why there are so many of these forsaken homes is because the original owners have long migrated to other countries in search of a brighter future, or fled following natural calamities such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions or landslides, leaving behind empty dwellings. 

These empty buildings can sit rotting in the sun for decades, if not centuries. No one seems interested in selling them off cheaply, likely because the heirs are nowhere to be found or can’t be bothered to deal with major renovation work or labyrinthine bureaucracy.

READ ALSO: Five pitfalls to watch out for when buying an old house in Italy

Local councils and mayors, who might dream of putting these buildings up for sale for a song or even a symbolic one euro to attract new buyers and breathe new life into dying communities, have their hands tied, in most cases forever. 

Authorities can seize these abandoned properties and place them on the market only if the buildings are a threat to ‘public safety and order’, like if there is the danger that parts of the building may crumble and kill passers-by or damage nearby properties or roads.

There is currently no law in Italy that allows town halls to seize these dilapidated buildings after a set number of years, and this is frustrating for mayors eager to give the old town centres a makeover, making them more appealing to tourists and buyers.

READ ALSO: Why Italians aren’t snatching up their country’s one-euro homes

I was recently talking to a friend of mine, who was deputy mayor in a town in Basilicata, and he complained how the only instances in which he ever stepped in to seize a property were when it had already crumbled to the ground. 

There is one exception: that’s when local authorities are the direct and sole owners of a building. There are specific laws approved by governments in the past granting towns struck by natural calamities to seize the buildings for public safety. 

Photo by Ehud Neuhaus on Unsplash

In Campania, where a terrible earthquake hit the Irsina area in 1980 sending locals running for their lives, many towns now have ghost districts which have passed into the hands of councils. Many villages there, like Zungoli and Bisaccia, have in fact since been able to sell dozens of old homes for one euro or a little more.

The process was quick here because the councils owned the properties. Sambuca in Sicily, struck by the 1968 Belice Valley quake, owns dozens of abandoned buildings in the old town centre, and it has already successfully sold two batches of cheap empty homes, triggering a property stampede. 

Another major problem in Italy is ‘abusivismo’ – illegal constructions that across time have turned into what Italians call eco-monsters, buildings that mar the environment and beauty of places. 

READ ALSO: ‘Italy’s one-euro homes cost a lot more than one euro – but can be worth it’

These can be abandoned concrete buildings such as old restaurants, beach clubs, sports centres, and shops built illegally, for instance along a lungomare seaside promenade back in the 1970s-1980s, that ruin the skyline and are ‘un pugno nell’occhio’ (an eyesore; literally ‘a punch in the eye’).

Visitors from abroad may well wonder why these ugly, abandoned buildings aren’t torn down and the land sold to developers. But they are normally only seized and demolished by local authorities if there are plans to redevelop the area with new public facilities, like playgrounds, public gardens or sports centres. Otherwise no-one cares. 

The trouble is, there is no political discussion of allowing mayors to seize derelict buildings and old illegal constructions after a certain number of years, even in the absence of urban regeneration projects and immediate safety risks. 

I think the government should take the issue more seriously, particularly if it wants to support the repopulation of Italy’s old villages by allowing interested buyers to give a new life to forgotten and neglected neighbourhoods.

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