A Guide to Residential Rentals - For Renters
Renting in Italy can be challenging, even for Italians. Between the myriad documents required, various fees, and long wait times between finding a property and actually moving in, it may make you think ‘how does anybody do this?’. This guide aims to provide you with some essential information about the rental process so that you can approach it from a more educated and comfortable standpoint.
This information generally applies to anyone who intends to rent more long term. Although it can also apply to tourist rentals, most holiday makers generally book directly through sites such as AirBNB, Booking, etc, therefore much of the information contained here does NOT pertain.
Where to look
Many Italians use sites like immobiliare.it, casa.it, and idealista.it to find available rentals. Most agencies also list their available rental properties on these sites. You may have success finding rentals on affitto.it, subito.it, and even Facebook Marketplace.
Things to look out for when looking at property listings
- Condominium/HOA Fees: Typically include cleaning fees and electricity for common areas like entryways, stairs, driveways, etc. It’s possible it also includes heating costs (see next point) and costs related to the elevator (if there is one) among other things. These fees can be hundreds of euros per month. Ask lots of questions about what is and isn’t included.
- Heating: Autonomo (independent) or centralizzato (centralized). Independent heating typically means lower costs as you only pay for your individual use. Centralized heating can carry astronomical costs as the expense of the heating is divided between all of the units connected to the central system (however, in situations where there are contacalorie (usage meters) installed you should be able to save a bit as you would receive a bill only for your usage and connection fee to the system).
- Air conditioning: Is not a given in Italy. Make sure to check that if it is included.
- Parking: The listing might say ‘parking included,’ however this could mean anything from first come, first served for a limited number of spaces to a reserved spot.
- Floor: Remember that first floor in Italy is the floor ABOVE the ground floor.
- Utilities: Are almost never included in the rental contract. You’ll likely be responsible for setting up your own gas, electric, water, and internet contracts.
- Deposit: Typically 2 – 3 months rent, however, if it isn’t written, ASK. It’s becoming more common to see 6 months or even a year’s rent as a deposit – crazy!
Types of Contracts
By law in Italy, there are only a few different contract types for rentals.
- The most common are the 4+4 (four year with 4 year extension, used for rentals priced freely (mercato libero)) and 3+2 (three year with two year extension, used for rentals with rent control (canone concordato)).
- Another common variant used for students and those with short-term transitory needs (work related travel, internships, training, etc; these needs must be well documented) is the short term rental contract which has a maximum period of 18 months.
Don’t be scared by these contract lengths! Most contracts allow you to discontinue your rental with 3 to 6 months notice.
Contacting owners and agencies
Most properties in Italy are listed through agencies, and the best way to contact them is by phone, in Italian. Emails often may go unread and are infrequently responded to. Don’t be frustrated if they don’t immediately respond. Many agencies in larger cities get overwhelmed with calls as soon as they advertise a listing. Be persistent and patient.
It may be wise to engage a realtor in Italy who can call and act on your behalf.
Do I sign a contract with the individual agency or agent?
You should ONLY sign an exclusive agreement with an agent or an agency when you are using them as your representative to find an apartment, in the same way that you would typically sign a contract with a buyer’s agent who is searching for a property for you. Otherwise, the first document you should sign is the Proposta (see below).
This is a service I provide, and if you are interested, use the link at the bottom of the page to book a call and get in touch with me.
About showings
When you’ve connected with the owner or agent, you’ll be asked to set up a showing. No, it won’t be in a few weeks or months, but likely for the next day or so. If you’re not in Italy, you could consider sending a surrogate for the showing, however, most agents make a decision on the potential renter at this point. So, if you aren’t there, they aren’t likely to be interested in forwarding your name to the owner as a potential renter.
On the day of the showing, the agent or owner should take you on a walkthrough of the apartment. This is your chance to ask questions, take notes, and perhaps even take photos or videos (ask permission first!). It may be helpful to bring copies of the documents listed below as well. We’re in Italy, after all, and not everyone has yet gotten on board with the digital transition. For older agents and agencies, paper is king. Do not bring cash!
IMPORTANT! Be sure to ask the agent/owner about contract registration fees. These are ‘hidden’ fees that vary depending on contract type and what type of taxation structure the owner has elected to use for the rental.
Ok, I’m interested in an apartment. Now what?
You’ll most likely be sending a series of documents by email to the agent (although some agents are old school and still collect paper copies – be prepared). They’ll use these to weed through applicants and will then forward potential renters to the owner for approval.
What documents do I need?
You’re going to need:
- Financial Statements: preferably from an Italian bank.
- Work Contract: preferably from an Italian employer.
- Codice Fiscale (Italian Tax Code)
- ID Document: usually your Italian Carta d’Identità or foreign passport.
- Permesso di Soggiorno: if you are a foreigner residing in Italy.
As mentioned above, it may be helpful to bring paper copies of these documents to the showing as there are plenty of ‘old school agents and agencies around.
IMPORTANT! Do not bring money at this point and remember – for any type of transaction in Italy, the maximum amount that you can contract in cash is €5,000 due to strict money laundering laws.
And that’s it, right?
Well, not really. Depending on the impression you made on the agent and the documents you sent, you could be invited to sign a Proposta (a proposal) for the rental of the apartment. You may also be asked to pay a small deposit guaranteeing that you won’t withdraw from the proposal (and if you do, you lose that money). This ‘pre-deposit’ is refunded if the deal falls through on the owner’s end or when you sign the rental contract.
Read the Proposta carefully as it could also contain other financial clauses.
The owner will be given time to approve or reject the proposal. If approved, you’ll move on to the next phase, the contract.
Signing the contract
At this point, the contract will be drawn up by the agency or owner. You should be forwarded a copy of the contract in advance of the signing day. Read it carefully. It should layout the rental terms, deposit, when you’ll take possession of the apartment, if sub leasing is allowed, and other important details. You can always try to negotiate if there is something in the contract that you don’t like.
You’ll schedule a day to sign the contract. The property owners should be there as well at this point. On the day of the signing, you’ll need to pay the deposit and possibly the first month’s rent (depending on the contract) as well as the agency fees.
FINALLY! How much is this going to cost me?
Typical costs:
- Security Deposit – Normally 2-3 months rent
- Agency Commission – Typically 10% of the yearly rent + 22% VAT (value added tax) – if an agency was involved
- Contract Registration Fees – Varies depending on the type of contract and tax structure the owner has chosen.
- You may also be asked to pay the first month’s rent at this point.
Let’s look at an example for an apartment with a €1,000 monthly rent:
- Security Deposit: €2,000 (2 months rent)
- Agency Commission: €1,200 (10% of the yearly rent) + €264 (22% VAT on €1,200) = €1,464
- Contract Registration Fees: €25
- First Month’s Rent: €1,200
- TOTAL: €4,689
Using a licensed, professional, bilingual real estate agent who can guide you through the whole process is extremely important, saving you not only time and energy, but potentially also money.
