Buyer guide
Italy land-buying guide
Practical guides for assessing land in Italy before you buy.
The Pre-Purchase Checklist for Foreigners Buying Land in Italy
A parcel in an Italian listing is not yet a buildable, accessible property. This checklist shows what to identify, request, verify and price before you sign.
13 min · Read guide →02Buyer guideVisura catastale and the cadastral parcel: proving which land you are actually buying
A visura catastale can identify the parcel, expose a missing building record and show where the seller's story does not fit. It cannot prove that the seller owns the land or that you can build on it.
12 min · Read guide →03Buyer guideCertificato di destinazione urbanistica (CDU): what your land is
The CDU is the Italian planning certificate a land buyer cannot afford to treat as paperwork. It identifies the planning rules attached to the parcel, but it is not a building permit.
14 min · Read guide →04Buyer guideWhat you can build in Italy: PRG, PUC and the right to build
A planning label is not a building licence. This guide shows how national, regional and municipal rules combine, how to read the indices, and why farmland rarely means a villa.
13 min · Read guide →05Buyer guideSeismic zones in Italy: what they cost buyers
The zone printed beside an Italian comune is a starting label, not a structural verdict. Here is what it changes, what it does not, and which documents can stop an expensive mistake.
14 min · Read guide →06Buyer guideFlood and Landslide Risk in Italy: Read the PAI
A PAI or PGRA map can stop a building project long before a buyer notices the problem on site. Here is how to read the classes, find the operative rules, and keep evidence for one Italian parcel.
12 min · Read guide →07Buyer guideVincolo paesaggistico: what it permits
A vincolo paesaggistico does not automatically make Italian land unusable. It changes the order of work: identify the exact protection, design around it, and obtain the right clearance before touching the site.
12 min · Read guide →08Buyer guideUnauthorised building work in Italy: spot an abuso
A house can be mapped, taxed and occupied while its building work is still illegal. Learn how to match the building, the Comune file and the Catasto before you inherit somebody else’s problem.
13 min · Read guide →09Buyer guideCost of buying property in Italy: taxes and fees
The asking price is the easy number. This guide breaks down the Italian taxes, professional fees and recurring bills that turn a property price into the cash you actually need.
12 min · Read guide →10Buyer guideBuying agricultural land in Italy: pre-emption rights
A tenant farmer or qualifying neighbour can sometimes take Italian farmland from the buyer after completion. Here is the order of rights, the deadlines and the paperwork that keeps the risk visible.
12 min · Read guide →11Buyer guideUsi civici in Italy: why a sale can stop dead
A parcel can look privately owned, sit in the seller’s name and still carry a collective right that changes what can be sold. Here is the check I want before any deposit is paid.
12 min · Read guide →12Buyer guideAccess rights in Italy: servitù di passaggio
A dirt track is not proof that your Italian plot has a legal right of way. Learn how servitù di passaggio, landlocked land, public roads and planning access fit together before you pay.
12 min · Read guide →13Buyer guideUtility connections on Italian land: real costs
A plot can be buildable on the plan and still be a financial trap because the water main, sewer, electricity and broadband stop far short of it. This is how to test the connection before you buy.
12 min · Read guide →14Buyer guideAsbestos, radon and contaminated land in Italy
A rural plot can carry a roof liability, a radon problem or a buried contamination file that no estate listing will mention. Here is what to check before you sign.
12 min · Read guide →15Buyer guideCoastal property in Italy: the strip that changes everything
A ruin near the water is not a shortcut to a seaside house. The 300-metre national constraint, maritime state land, regional plans and flood maps can each remove a different part of the deal.
14 min · Read guide →