Maybe you are coming to Italy to work or study here for a while, in which case, you’ll need somewhere to live. If that’s the situation you are in, then this how-to guide should help you find property for rent in Italy using the web.
Note that this is not a guide to holiday/vacation rentals. Most of these types of rentals are listed on sites with comprehensive descriptions in English and other languages.
To find Italy’s apartment rental listing websites, try searching Google.it for “affitto” plus the name of the town or city which interests you. If the website you land on looks particularly ropey, look for another one.
First of all, seeing as most apartment rental listing websites are in Italian and Italian only, you’ll need to know some Italian rental vocabulary.
Here goes:
- Monolocale – a studio or one bedroom flat.
- Bilocale, Trilocale or appartamento – any apartment bigger than a studio or one bedroom apartment. Bilocale indicates two rooms with bathroom and either a separate kitchen or a kitchen area in the living room. Trilocale means there are three main rooms, so two bedrooms.
- Mansarda – literally under the roof of an apartment building. Maybe combined with Attico listings.
- Attico – often a luxury version of a mansarda – so a penthouse flat. Prices likely to be high.
- Loft – open plan accommodation – not necesserily on an upper floor. Indeed, an Italian loft can be on the ground or even a below ground floor. Often considered luxury accommodation. May not be suitable for families with children.
- Villa a schiera – a terraced house. Relatively rare in Italy though some are to be found in Milan, for example.
- Villa – a detached house. Likely to be large and with high rents.
- Rustico – a “rustic” cottage – not something you are likely to find within Italy’s major cities. Probably small and rental levels should be reasonable – if you can find any in locations which are not too isolated.
Web based apartment search services often allow you to choose not only a city, but also an area of a city.
Knowing which areas are OK in terms of safety and amenities and which are not so nice is not easy unless you have either seen the area for yourself or can ask someone.
As a general rule of thumb, the nicest areas of Italian cities and towns to live in are the centre and zones immediately surrounding the centre. Rental prices in these zones are likely to be higher than suburbs and other peripheral areas.
Should you be staying in Italy long enough to want to send your children to school then the city/town centre schools tend to be better run than those in suburbs – though some suburb schools are likely to be very well run. Ask the locals for information about schools – if you know Italian, that is.
Set a Rental Price
On Italian property rental search websites, you can often set a minimum and a maximum rental price. By setting both the minimum too low and the maximum too low too, you risk seeing zero search results in some locations, such as Venice. To start with, leave the minimum at its default setting and, if you like, set a maximum price.
Should you know your budget or be after something more upmarket, then set the minimum to, say, €200 below your budget and set the maximum to your budget. This will reduce the selection the search system will present you with to more manageable levels.
Rental prices are generally monthly, though some ads may set an annual price, just to make life more interesting!
Tip: Try leaving the rental level – price – settings at default setting initially and seeing how many pages of ads the system presents you with. Refine price criteria if you see too many pages of results.
- Prezzo minimo – minimum price
- Prezzo massimo – maximum price
- Superficie minima – minimum area – in square meters
- Superficie massima – maximum area – square meters
- Nº minimo locali – minimum number of rooms. This excludes bathrooms generally. For a one bedroom apartment, set this to two. For a four bedroom apartment, set this to six or seven. Alternatively, just leave this blank to avoid confusion and maybe miss out on your ideal apartment, house, or cottage.
- Privato / Agenzia – Private or Agency – apartments rented by private owners, or by agencies. Private rentals may be lower, but organising rentals through agencies should be easier.
Also useful to know is the “Data di pubblicazione” – the date of publication of a rental listing:
- Ultime 24 ore – in the last 24 hours
- Ultima settimana – in the last week
- Ultimo mese – in the last month
It is probably best to select apartments with photos, in which case, tick/select a box which says “fotografie”, otherwise you’ll get a selection of apartments for rent with and without photographs. Photographs will help you decide more quickly which apartments are worth further investigation and limiting your search to accommodation with photographs may reduce the number of results you have to examine.
If you want a furnished apartment, then tick/select a box which says “Arredato” – furnished. Note that furnishing levels can range from basic to complete.
It can get hot in summer in Italy, so you might want air conditioning, in which case, tick/select a box which says “Aria condizionata” – air conditioning.
Note that even if you have ticked boxes, not all of those who have placed ads will have listed these features. In which case, it’s better to look for mention of “Arredato” or “Aria condizionata” within the ads themselves.
Before hitting the search button, you might want to find apartments with certain extra features. To do this, there may be a “Parole chiave” – key words – box into which you could type “terrazzo” for a usable balcony or “box” – garage – if you want somewhere to keep your car.
To recap, select:
- Type of property
- Location – town, city, and, if you know it, the area within the town or city in which you’d like to find somewhere to rent
- Date of ad
- Set minimum and maximum price levels – maybe
Once you’ve set all the parameters, hit the ‘cerca’ – search – button. Wait a second or so and you’ll be presented with a selection of apartments, houses, or whatever, for rent.
Reading the Ads
Click on a listing and you’ll come to the detail page. Don’t worry too much about the descriptions, instead, look at the photos – this is another reason to restrict your search to listings with photos. Photos generally show all the living spaces in the accommodation – the quality of the photos can be variable, even if some have been taken by agencies.
Here’s an example listing from the website MioAffitto: Apartment for rent in Milan (it may be out of date now) – the link will open in a new page or tab so you can continue to refer to this guide.
You should be able to spot the rental price details, which should look a little like this:
- 720 € / mese (15 € / m2) – €720 per month (€15 per square meter)
- Spese condominiali incluse – service charge, for apartments/flats included in rent. This often includes the cost of heating, cleaning of common areas, water and refuse disposal taxes. It probably won’t include electricity, gas and internet/telephone connection costs, nor will it include heating if the system is “autonomo” which means the property has its own independent heating system. Logically, as opposed to apartments, houses are likely to have independent heating systems. Note that in the south of Italy, heating is not as common as you might expect – this is because it rarely becomes cold enough to justify the installation of heating. Some air conditioning units do have a heating mode but they are likely to be very expensive to run for anything but very short periods of cold weather.
Note that if the service charge is not included, and it not always is, the monthly cost may rise considerably, by 25% or more. If details of the service charge are not included, ask for them – they can push rental levels up considerably.
Spese condominiali – service charges can vary a lot, but are usually specified. Add the Spese condominiali to the rent to arrive at the total monthly cost – to which gas, electricity and internet/telephone connection costs will also need to be added.
Other Details to Check
| Italian | English | Italian | Italian | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| m2 | area of the apartment | Accesso invalidi – | accessible for those with a disability. | |
| Piano | floor on which the apartment is situated | Locali | number of rooms – excluding bathroom and, probably, separate kitchen. | |
| Altezza edificio | how many floors an apartment building has. Can range from 2 to 20 plus. | Bagni | number of bathrooms. Bigger apartments in Italy often have more than one bathroom. | |
| Ascensore | lift/elevator – useful if the apartment is on the 3rd or higher floors. Essential if apartment is on 10th floor, unless you are super athletic! Also handy if you have children, especially very young ones. | Armadi | – wardrobes – may not be specified anyway even if they exist. n/d indicates not specified – look at the photos. | |
| Animali | – Si or No – Yes “Si”, pets are OK. No – pets not OK – no cats, dogs, rabbits or possibly even goldfish. | Aria condizionata | – air conditioning system available – Yes “Si”, no “no”. | |
| Cantina | – cellar storage area available. |
On the listings for individual properties you may see a section detailing specific features of the property you are looking at. From my experience, these additional details are not always very accurate – keep this in mind and look closely at the photographs!
Interno – Interior
| Italian | English | Italian | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tavolo/Sedie | Tables and chairs | Lavatrice | Washing machine | |
| Asciugatrice | Clothes dryer | Lavastoviglie | Dishwasher | |
| Frigorifero | Refrigerator | Elettrod. cucina | Other electric kitchen equipment – food mixer etc. | |
| Forno | Oven | Microonde | Microwave oven | |
| Stufa | Heater – rare | Balcone | Balcony – possibly more than one | |
| Ventilatore | Fan – uncommon, might be hidden in cupboard or cellar. | Terrazza | Terrace – basically a large balcony, sometimes very large | |
| Letto/i | Beds | Utensili cucina | Kitchen equipment – pots, pans, knifes, forks, plates, cups etc. | |
| Divano/i | Settees/sofas |
Tecnologia – Technology
| Italian | English | Italian | Italian | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TV | Television | TV Satellite | Satellite TV – or access to it. | |
| Stereo | Stereo | Telefono | Telephone – rarely connected | |
| Internet | Web connection | Video | Video recorder (!) | |
| DVD | DVD player |
Esteno/svago – External areas and amenities
| Italian | English | Italian | Italian | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Videocitofono | Video entry phone system | Piscina | Swimming pool – not that common in the rental sector. | |
| Sauna | Sauna – not common | Palestra | Gym – probably within apartment complex – not common. | |
Area bambini | Children’s play area |
Energy Consumption
Classe energetica dell’immobile: E – Energy class of the apartment
Indice Prestazione Energetica (IPE): 117.00 kwh/m2 – Energy consumption level. The lower the better, especially if you are paying for heating or even if heating is included in the separate service charge.
A note about service charges: Beware of these increasing massively when the apartment block is undergoing major maintenance or a lift/elevator is being installed. As a short term occupier, you should not have to pay the extra charges, but check to ensure you won’t be required to pay any more than the monthly service charge to avoid unexpectedly high additional costs. Under Italian law, you are not required to pay for major building works, but some property owners may try it on.
Make a List
Viewing
This is where life may become complicated unless you speak Italian. If you don’t, you can try contacting the rental agency or apartment owner by telephone. If you find someone who speaks English, all well and good. If you don’t find someone then either consider looking until you do or find someone who speaks Italian to help you. Aside from English, you may find Italians speak Spanish, French, and German.
Logically, if you can find someone who speaks English, then if you have any problems or questions in the future once you are in the apartment or house, getting problems sorted out or questions answered will be much easier, though once you are in Italy it will be easier to find an Italian speaker to help you.
An alternative to the telephone is sending an email or message via the rental listing site. Try writing in English. If you get no response within a couple of days, move on to the next apartment on your list – but check to ensure it’s not listed by the same agency!
Printing out, or saving listings as .pdf documents, is a good way of keeping track of interesting apartments. You can then take the print-out or .pdf with you when you go see the apartment you have chosen to view or put them on your tablet or phone.
Renting
Once you have found an apartment you’d like to rent, you will be asked to sign a contract and to make a deposit payment.
Deposits can range from one month’s rent to three months or more – requesting more than three months is illegal under Italian law. The deposit is repayable when the rental period comes to an end. Watch out for property owners who retain all or part of your deposit because they say the apartment requires repainting. Property owners cannot retain deposits unless major damage has been caused to the rented apartment by the occupier. A need for redecoration is merely normal wear and tear.
On the day you enter the apartment, take photographs. Make copies for the owner or agency and get someone to sign and date the back of them. Keep the signed copies for yourself.
To get around owners retaining deposits, come to an arrangement, a couple of months or so before vacating the accommodation, that you will not pay the final month’s rent as that has been covered by the initial deposit. Some owners may be happy with this, though others may not be agreeable to such an arrangement. Asking costs nothing though and may help ensure you are not left out of pocket when you move out.
If rental contracts are not in English, which is rare, get someone who knows Italian to look through them – preferably someone who is familiar with rental contracts or a friend who is a lawyer.
Get receipts for rent payments.
Rental Contract Length
Contracts may be for terms of 4 years plus 4 years or for 3 year plus 2 year periods. The occupant has a right to decide whether to renew for the next four or two years. Shorter terms contacts are available too.
While some owners are quite flexible about when contracts are brought to an end, others may not be so flexible and if you leave early, you may still be required to pay rent for the remaining rental period.
Beware if No Contract is Proposed
This invariably means the owner is evading taxes and is illegal. You could find yourself being forced to leave at little more than a moment’s notice in the event Italy’s tax authorities catch up with a tax-evading owner.
What Else to Watch Out For:
- Rents which seem too good to be true. You may be shown around an apartment, asked to pay a deposit if you say yes, pay up and then you will never hear from the ‘owner’ again. Attempts to contact the ‘owner’ or ‘agent’ will get nowhere. Kiss your deposit money goodbye.
- Repainting costs – as mentioned before.
- Rentals which are contract-less.
- Requests for money. Never, ever, hand over money before seeing an apartment, no matter how credible the reason for a payment may be. Walk away.
- Make sure everything in the apartment or house works and is safe. Older apartments may have defective electrical systems. Having the lights go out when more than three electrical appliances are on is quite normal in Italy though.
- Never pay anything before signing a contract.
- Six months notice of termination is required unless the contract states otherwise.
- You are not responsible for settling the utility bills of previous occupants.
- You are not responsible for making service charge payments for major works such as façade redecoration or the refurbishment of an underground parking area.
- Attempts to increase rents before the rental period has expired or attempts to impose rental levels which are much higher than the officially set rates. Check your rental contact carefully before contesting, or agreeing to, rent increases.
Right, you are now ready to start hunting for an apartment or whatever it is you are looking for in Italy.
The MioAffitto website has a comprehensive search system as does Immobiliare.it (link to Rome rentals) – if the prices on this site seem ridiculously high, you’ve probably set the site to look for properties for sale and not for rental properties!
Note that Italy Chronicles is has no relationship with MioAffitto or Immobiliare services.
Got questions? Ask away via a comment.
Happy house hunting!
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Leslie says
Hi, I’m an international student living in Bologna, I rent a sharing room in an apartment. My contract is for 12 months, but i want to break it, since my owner has not given me wifi services, even though promised, and also I’m looking for something closer to my university. My question is if i wish to break the contract, is there a fee to be paid? There is no mention of breaking charges in the contract, however my owner is terrible, she tries to take money for everything. I’m worried she’ll take my two moths deposit, which is quite a lot. Please let me know your thoughts!
Alex Roe says
Hi Leslie,
You need to read the contract carefully and see what the terms are with regard to terminating it – if its in Italian, get an Italian to help you understand it. If you break the contract now, you will probably lose your two month deposit. You could stay for a couple more months and withhold the rent owing to the absence of wifi. Then leave, after having found somewhere else.
Have you been getting receipts for your rental payments? If not, mention that you’ll report her to the Guardia di Finanza – Italy’s tax cops. You should find she’s more than happy to allow you to leave and that she’ll return your deposit too.
Good luck!
Alex
Antonio says
Hi Alex
I’m from south africa. Here by law you must earn 3x more than your rent I.e. if rent is R5000 your salary after tax must be R15 000. Is it the same in Italy?
Regards
Antonio
Alex Roe says
Hi Antonio,
As far as I know, there’s no such requirement in Italy.
Maybe someone else can confirm.
Best.
Alex
Ugin says
We are experiencing “tax evading” at the moment. Stated our address in the Codice Fiscale paper and after a month the owner “got a fine” from the City. The owner doesn’t have documents, proving she is the owner of the apartment. Could anyone tell what to do in such case? No papers signed and there will be none 🙂 .. Thanks
Alex Roe says
Let’s see what others say, Ugin, but I’d suggest looking for another apartment and moving as soon as possible. Beware of losing your deposit, if you paid one…if you did not, I would be surprised.
Interesting to hear that cross referencing of info appears to have happened.
Good luck,
Alex
Cinda says
Hello Again Alex,
Thank you so much for your time and consideration to not just my situation, but to all others. I took the time today to read everyone’s questions, suggestions, as well as your replies and that has helped me a great deal. 🙂
Other sites like these are mostly looking for followers, not many reply to questions. I am glad that you take that time to do so. I am also glad that you are in-depth with your answers, as well as posting a link if you are unsure of the answer. 🙂
Yes! I am humbly grateful to have found you here. 🙂
Respectfully,
Cinda
Alex Roe says
Hi Cinda, Thanks for the thanks. Happy to have been helpful. It is worth reading other questions and replies in comments as they may save time in finding answers to your own.
Hope your stay in Italy goes works out well and that you have a bit of time to explore and try the food and drink too, of course 🙂
Best regards,
Alex
Cinda says
Hello, I am moving to Novara, Italy for work, from America, and I am looking to rent an apartment for the first year close to where I will be working. Is it true that I will need a one-year signed rental contract to take with me to my meeting with the Italian Consulate General here in America when applying for my work visa? If so, is there an agency I can use in Italy that will take care of this need for me? I know there will be a fee, but I really need to get this done before my meeting October 18, 2016; if it is true that I need to have a rental contract.
Thank you. 🙂
Alex Roe says
Hi Cinda,
Don’t know if this requirement is true (probably depends on what you are going to be doing here) – you’d better ask the people at the US Consulate here in Milan: http://milan.usconsulate.gov/contact.html – phone number and other contact details. They’ll understand your situation better than I and are an official source.
For this kind of info, it’s always best to go direct to official sources or else you risk ending up with the wrong info which could cause you big problems later on.
Re an agency, they do exist but I don’t know of any offhand. The organisation you are to work for may know a few names – shop around to get an idea of the fees involved or you might end up paying over the odds for agency services. And be very careful renting places without having seen them – one nasty trick is getting people to pay deposits on places that do not exist.
Best,
Alex
Cinda says
Hello Again Alex,
Thank you so much for your time and consideration to not just my situation, but to all others. I took the time today to read everyone’s questions, suggestions, as well as your replies and that has helped me a great deal. 🙂
Other sites like these are mostly looking for followers, not many reply to questions. I am glad that you take that time to do so. I am also glad that you are in-depth with your answers, as well as posting a link if you are unsure of the answer. 🙂
Yes! I am humbly grateful to have found you here. 🙂
Respectfully,
Cinda
Abdi Kayse says
Hey Alex,
Thanks for all this help you are providing, really appreciate it alot!
Do I need job contract in Italy in order to rent an apartment?
Jane says
Abdi,
I spent 2.5 months this spring in Italy under the visa waiver program, and I had no problem renting an apartment from a private individual. There was some initial confusion because she wanted my codice fiscale (Italian tax ID number, as I understand it), which of course I didn’t have, but I explained that I was not working while I was in Italy and so I did not have the codice fiscale. The issue was that as my landlord she was required to officially register me with the Questura (police HQ for the region). If you do rent, it would be a good idea to clarify with the landlord whether they will register you or whether you need to do that yourself. That registration with the Questura is something that hotels do, so travellers often don’t even know that it’s done. You must register within 8 days of arriving in the country.
I found my apartment on the http://www.immobiliare.it/ website, which ended up being my favourite of the several that I used. You could also try subito.it, which is something like an Italian version of Craigslist and has a lot of private individuals (as opposed to agencies) listing apartments and rooms for rent on it.
One note: If you don’t speak or, more importantly write, Italian, you might have difficulty in corresponding with potential landlords. I used my nascent Italian and it was invaluable.
Hope this helps.
Jane
M says
Hi
Thank you for providing this helpful article. I will soon be able to sign my contract but am a bit confused about the deposit. In Switzerland it is common to put the deposit on a blocked bank account where neither owner nor renter have access to until the end of the renting preiod.
In my case, the owner wants to get the deposit on his own bank account, which seems very strange (and somewhat unsafe) to me. Is there a law or “common rule” about this?
Thank you,
M
Alex Roe says
Hi M,
Glad this was useful. Re deposits, from my own experience, they tend to be held by owners and not in separate accounts. You could suggest this but I doubt you’ll get far.
The “common rule” seems to be owners get the cash. If others know different, I’ll be happy to be corrected.
Best,
Alex
PS I’ll mention this to some lawyers I know.
Nick says
Thanks for your swift reply and the link, Alex. I’m sure it’ll be quite helpful.
Cheers,
Nick
Alex Roe says
Prego, Nick,
If you have a moment, let us all know how you get on.
Best,
Alex
Nick says
Hi,
Thanks for this – really useful. In regards to this: “Property owners cannot retain deposits unless major damage has been caused to the rented apartment by the occupier. A need for redecoration is merely normal wear and tear.”
Can you point me in the direction of an official statement/ law/ or the like online that I can use as a point of reference?
Hope you can help!
Thanks,
Nick
Alex Roe says
Hi Nick,
Article 1590 of Italy’s Codice Civile is probably what you are after – the key lies in the section in BOLD:
Art. 1590.
Restituzione della cosa locata.
Il conduttore deve restituire la cosa al locatore nello stato medesimo in cui l’ha ricevuta, in conformità della descrizione che ne sia stata fatta dalle parti, salvo il deterioramento o il consumo risultante dall’uso della cosa in conformità del contratto (Summary: except normal wear and tear).
Law online here: http://www.altalex.com/documents/news/2013/06/24/della-locazione
But please note that I am not a lawyer. You will need confirmation that this is the correct article from a lawyer 🙂
Hope this helps a little.
Cheers,
Alex
Caeley says
Thanks for taking the time to really – really useful information!
CAELEY ELCOCK says
Excellent article, the most informative I’ve found on the topic – thanks for writing it!
I’m moving to the South in a few months so this was really useful reading – I’m just wondering though, is there such a things as a council tax in Italy payable by tenants such as in the UK? I found some information on the Imposta Municipale Propria but couldn’t understand whether it’s something to be paid by owner or the person renting? Any advice is much appreciated – thanks!
Alex Roe says
Hi Caeley,
Italy does have kinds of council tax equivalent but, as a rule, tenants won’t be required to pay it – it tends to be the landlord’s responsibility. If I’m wrong on this, someone will hopefully jump in and correct me. Generally, tenants pay electricity and gas bills and web/telephone connections but not always. The best way to find out what you will have to pay is to ask.
The Imposta Municipale Propria or IMU or IUC, TARI, TASI, TARES, (the system is evolving and is very confusing!) is/are a local tax(es) which help(s) pay for refuse collection and lighting. I don’t think you’ll be responsible for paying these taxes directly although it’s likely to affect the amount of rent you pay.
Rents in Italy tend to be a single monthly fee which may be made up of rent and ‘spese’ – expenses. Sometimes the ‘spese’ sum is specified, other times rents include it.
Hope this helps,
Alex
Jane says
Alex,
Thanks very much for all the helpful info and links.
I am currently working on renting an apartment long distance (I’m in California) because a 1-year accommodation contract is one of the requirements for the visa that I’ll be applying for.
I’m currently talking with a property owner (apartment building) about an apartment. I’ve learned enough Italian that I’m able to communicate well enough in writing and muddle my way through a phone call.
I just re-reviewed the rental listing and the contract type is listed as “libero,” a word the owner also used in his initial response to my email inquiry. Do you know what “libero” means in the context of a rental contract?
Thank you,
Jane
Nico says
Hi Alex,
Thank you for your great advice/tips. We are drafting a contract for a long term rental (4+4) and the owner/agency is telling us the apartment does not have the electricity certificate but it can be done by “self-certification”. My understanding is that such certificate is required by law. We tried to find something about this online with no success. My questions are: 1. Is the certificate absolutely needed? 2. If yes, can it be done by the owners in a few weeks? 3. Any reasons why the owners have not done it so far and what would be the consequences of not having it.
Thank you very much for your help, highly appreciated!!
Kind regards,
Nico
Alex Roe says
Hi Nico,
By electricity certificate, do you mean “certificazione energetica”. If so, then according to a 2012 article by an Italian consumer association and another which appeared in Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore in 2013, self-certification is no longer possible. It has to be done by an approved technician – an architect, for example. The cost may be around €300. The consumer association article, in Italian, can be found here: http://www.altroconsumo.it/casa-energia/comprare-vendere-casa/news/certificazione-energetica-regole-e-modalita-per-ottenerla
If a property is rented without the, obligatory, certification in order, then the owner of a property risks a fine of between €1000 and €4000. Detailed information, in Italian, can be found here: http://www.certificato-energetico.it/sanzioni.html
From what I understand, but I’m no expert on this, it’s the owner’s responsibility to show this certification to a potential occupier.
If your Italian is not as good as it could be and you want to check out the links I’ve added, ask a friend who knows Italian to explain things to you.
Best,
Alex
Erica Mallin says
Hi Alex:
Really helpful article! One quick question – I am looking for a place that will accepts dogs. I was able to find that as a criteria on Mioaffito but not on Immobiliare. am I missing something? If so, I would really appreciate it if you could tell me where to look for it as a critiera, or if you have any other search engine suggestions that cover animals as a filter.
Thanks!
Alex Roe says
Hi Erica,
I don’t think you are missing anything. If there’s not an option for selecting piccoli animali, animali domestici etc (that’s pets in English), then look at the details themselves – it might be mentioned. Failing that, I’m afraid you’ll have to email or call someone. As you’ll probably appreciate, pets can be an added complication for property owners and rental agents so getting permission in writing may save you problems if the dog damages anything (as ours certainly would!).
In general, the reason why pets are not always mentioned is probably down to a lack of demand – property owners probably do not expect renters to have pets.
Hope that helps.
Best,
Alex
Dillon says
Hello,
I am moving to Milan from the United States for school and I am currently looking to rent a room. When it comes to the rental contract, is this something that I can complete and sign from a distance? Or do I have to be in Italy in order to do so. I need proof of housing in order to get my student visa. Is it possible to get the contract signed and ready from the United States?
Alex Roe says
Hi Dillon – not sure about this – should be possible. Best thing to do is to speak to your school – the people there should know. You are not the first American to come here to study.
Beware of handing over any money for an apartment before you come to Italy – there are scammers who take advanced payments and run.
Best,
Alex
Dillon says
Thank you for your advice!
Alex Roe says
You are welcome, Dillon, – prego – as they say in Italy. If you do manage to achieve what you want to do and have a spare moment, let us know.
Thanks,
Alex
Dan says
Hello,
Thank you for writing this informative post!
I found a really promising apartment is Milan. However the agent’s contract stipulates that I must pay (plus or minus) 220 Euros as “Bolli e imposte di registro/ registration fees and taxes” Can you please explain to me why I must cover this expense? Other agents say that there is no need to pay registration fees/ taxes since the contracts they offer will be registered with the “cedolare secca”.
Shall I pay that fee/ is it legal for the agency to ask me to pay such a fee?
Alex Roe says
Hi Dan,
Glad you found the post useful. As for your situation, I’m not certain as I’m no expert on apartment rentals, looking at Italy’s tax authority website: http://www.agenziaentrate.gov.it/wps/content/nsilib/nsi/home/cosadevifare/registrare/registrazione+contratti+beni+immobili/cedolare+secca/scheda+informativa+cedolare+secca – it sounds as if you are being asked to pay this tax because the owner of the apartment is a business and not an individual. The ‘cedolare secca’ system applies to apartments owned by individuals not companies.
If I were you, I’d either say no thank you and go look for another apartment or explain that you have not been asked to pay anything like this before and hint that you will look elsewhere. This might cause the agency to drop the charge, but not necessarily.
Having read this article, http://it.blastingnews.com/casa/2014/04/contratto-d-affitto-come-effettuare-registrazione-e-pagamento-delle-imposte-0082147.html – it looks as if it is illegal to ask you to pay the entire fee. It is, apparently, OK for the owner to split the fee with tenants on a 50:50 basis. Print off a copy of the article and show it to the agents. They may claim the law has since changed – it may have – but if they claim this, ask you see evidence that the law has changed.
Good luck.
Alex
Valerie Romaine says
One of the more informative and useful pages I’ve found on the web! Very nice.
Sarah says
Hello, I am wondering if I plan on staying in an apartment for only 10 months, but it has a contract of 4 + 4 yrs. Can I let the landowner know that I am only staying for the 10 months and just let them know a few months prior to leaving? Does that happen sometimes?
Thanks so much.
Tiffany says
I’m so glad I found this! I’ll be studying in Milan for a year and luckily I have a local friend who will be inspecting and taking a video of an apartment I’m interested in. I want to secure a place before arriving because I know the selection goes down right before the school year. If all turns out well, should I expect to simply sign a contract remotely to secure the place? I don’t really feel comfortable paying anything before my arrival, but I’m unsure about the protocol in Italy 🙂
Alex Roe says
Hi Tiffany,
If a friend here is handling things for you, you should be OK. You may have to hand over money as a deposit before you move into the apartment and this is normally how things are done here. If you are uncomfortable about handing over money before seeing the apartment – ask if you can pay the deposit and initial rent as soon as you arrive in Italy and pick up the keys for the apartment; then at least you will know you have an apartment.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Alex
Tiffany says
That helps a lot, thanks Alex!
Alex Roe says
Prego. If you have any other questions, ask away.
Best,
Alex
heath says
hi alex what about employment requirements for renting a place? eg with a temporary work contract vs a permanent contract? and also renting as a foreigner vs an italian? cheers heath.
Alex Roe says
You should be OK with a temporary work contract – depending on the level of pay and length of contract, Heath. If you are not an EU citizen, you will need a residence permit – permesso di soggiorno.
Cheers,
Alex
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