Guide · Buying

1-euro houses in Italy: what the schemes really involve

No national law creates Italy's €1 houses: each municipality sets terms. What a typical scheme requires, the taxes that still apply and the checks to make.

Checked on against the official sources at the bottom of the page.

In short

There is no national “1-euro house” law in the sources I read. These offers are local initiatives: a municipality publishes a notice, and the terms (who may buy, what you must build, what guarantee you post) belong to that municipality alone. The price is symbolic, but you still pay at least €1,000 in registration tax plus €50 mortgage tax and €50 cadastral tax on an ordinary resale, the notary, the survey and the renovation, which is the real cost of the project.

Two models, both municipal

The scheme at Cantiano shows the first model. Private owners of run-down buildings tell the municipality they are willing to sell, even for a symbolic €1, and that willingness must remain open for three years. Buyers, individuals or companies, then register their interest in buying and restoring a specific property. The municipality collects the expressions of interest, publishes a notice on its official noticeboard, approves the assignment and ranks the applicants when several want the same building. The sale itself is a private contract between owner and buyer.

The scheme at Zungoli shows the second model: the sale of properties that belong to the municipality. Its fourth call, updated on 21 February 2025, publishes a notice, a technical report, a declaration form and eleven property sheets. A buyer there deals with the public body as seller, with the formal steps of a public sale.

A third kind of programme looks similar but is not the same thing. Some regions pay grants to people who buy or renovate a home in a small village. One Sardinian municipality, for example, published a call in 2024 for grants towards buying or renovating a first home in towns under 3,000 inhabitants, under a 2022 regional law against depopulation. The beneficiary had to take up residence within 18 months of purchase or of completion of the works, and the home could not be in cadastral categories A/1, A/8 or A/9. That call closed on 5 June 2024, so treat it only as an example of how such aid is built, and read the current notice of any municipality that interests you.

What a buyer typically signs up to

Cantiano’s published terms give a concrete picture, and other municipalities will differ. The buyer must:

  • pay all costs of the transfer (notary, taxes, cadastral transfer and any building-law regularisation) and reimburse the seller for the local and national taxes the seller paid while the property was on offer;
  • complete the sale and provide a surety policy of €4,000 in favour of the municipality within two months of the assignment decision;
  • file the renovation project with the municipal technical office within six months of the sale contract;
  • start the works within twelve months of the building permit and finish within three years of starting.

Those figures belong to one municipality. Another may ask for a different guarantee, a residence commitment or a shorter deadline. Read the notice and its annexes, not a blog summary.

What it costs

The price is not the cost. On a resale from a private seller, or from a company selling without VAT, the Agenzia delle Entrate says the proportional registration tax cannot be less than €1,000, whatever the price, and mortgage and cadastral taxes are €50 each. With the prima casa relief the registration tax rate falls from 9% to 2%, but the €1,000 minimum still applies. So the taxes alone come to at least €1,100 (a calculation from the official figures). The relief requires you to move your residence to the municipality within 18 months, or to work there, and the home must be in a qualifying category: A/2 to A/7 or A/11, which includes A/6 rural dwellings. See prima casa tax benefits explained.

Notary fees are not set by a national scale; a notary must give a written estimate in advance, as article 9 of D.L. 1/2012 requires for regulated professions. Add a survey, any cadastral correction and the works. A run-down building also raises the question of its energy certificate: buildings declared unusable or in ruins are excluded from the certificate rules, but a restored home will need one when you sell. See the APE guide.

Renovation costs may be partly offset by the building-works deduction. For spending in 2025 and 2026 it is 36% (50% for a main home) up to €96,000 per unit, falling to 30% (36% for a main home) for 2027. The Superbonus has ended, and invoice discounts and credit assignment are no longer available in general, with an exception for some earthquake areas in 2026. More in the renovation deduction guide.

The checks that matter more than the price

A symbolic price is attractive precisely because the building may carry problems. Before committing, ask the notary and a technical professional to check the title chain, any mortgage or seizure, the cadastral entry and drawings, and whether the building has a lawful planning history. Italian law makes a deed for a building begun after 17 March 1985 void unless it states the building permit details (article 46 of DPR 380/2001), and a deed must carry a declaration that the cadastral data and plans match the real state (article 29 of Law 52/1985). Co-owners are another trap: in a building with several heirs, every co-owner must consent to a sale of the whole. See property due diligence and urban planning compliance.

Which professional to consult

A notary handles the deed and the legality checks. A surveyor or architect should inspect the building and estimate the works before you sign, because the guarantee and the deadlines make a wrong estimate expensive. The municipality’s technical office is the right contact for the permit route and the scheme’s rules.

Frequently asked questions

Is a 1-euro house really sold for €1?

The contract price can be symbolic, but the taxes, notary, costs of regularisation and the renovation are paid by the buyer. Under the Cantiano terms the buyer also reimburses the seller’s property taxes for the period the home was on offer.

Can a foreigner take part?

The notices I read set conditions on the buyer’s undertakings, not on nationality, but each municipality writes its own. Read the current notice and ask the technical office.

Do I have to live in the house?

Not under every scheme. Residence matters if you want the prima casa relief, which requires residence or work in the municipality, and some local notices add their own commitments.

What happens if I do not finish the works?

That depends on the notice. The terms I read include a surety in favour of the municipality and fixed deadlines, so the consequence is written in the notice and in the sale contract you sign.

Are the offers still open?

They change constantly. The Cantiano page shows several properties already marked as assigned, so check the municipality’s official page and noticeboard for open calls.

General information drawn from the official sources cited and dated on this page. It is not legal, tax or financial advice: for your own situation, ask a licensed professional.

More guides on buying

Sources

All guides · Payotte Italy