Renovating and Building in Italy

Tuscany is littered with traditional, stone-built, crumbling houses, which are ripe for renovation says Channel 4’s Grand Designs. They are charming and offer perfect peace and quiet in beautiful countryside. Renovating or building in Italy, however, is not without its difficulties.

Over 20,000 Britons live in Italy, many in Tuscany, and most have discovered that Italian law is is riddled with complex planning regulations. Planning law dictates that you have to return ruins back to the condition they were in before the building fell into disrepair.

Buildings in the countryside have to blend in with existing homes and it is difficult to obtain planning permission for extensions or to make alterations such as changing window shapes or adding a pool. Even if you are building from new you have to build in a style that gently blends in with the existing homes and landscape.

When building or renovating in Italy, you will need experts to help you with the process.

• You will need a good estate agent, one who is properly licensed and has special indemnity insurance. The local chamber of commerce will have a list of licensed estate agents in the area.
• It is a good idea to put aside 20 percent of the purchase price to cover all fees, which will include notary fees, estate agent fees and purchase tax.
• All renovations and building works should involve a geometra, whose responsibilities are to get all the permits necessary for the building work and to collaborate with all the professionals involved. A geometra will need to work in conjunction with an architect on larger projects and they can advise on anything from building permits to earthquakes.
• Large parts of Italy are subject to earthquakes and any building or restructuring work has to take this into account. This can push up costs by as much as 25 percent.
• There are an estimated 350,000 buildings in Italy without official planning permission. Every now and then the government gives an unofficial amnesty, called a condono, to such buildings. However, this cannot be relied upon and you will certainly be fined and may end up with a criminal record for any building that has been altered without the necessary consents. Until a house has official planning permission it cannot be sold.

There are fewer and fewer worthwhile old buildings to restore still available in Italy so if you are interested in this sort of project you should consider getting involved in the near future.