For any non EU citizens that require a Permesso di Soggiorno the govt is about to make an Italian test compulsory. Without a basic knowledge of some key phrases and words, you wont get a PdS. As soon as we know more, we’ll let you know.
Apologies for the week or so that the sites have been unavailable, and this blog. We were hacked. Now everything should be back to normal.
Google have put out an alarm for a malware listing on our site. We are working hard to resolve the problem and hopefully all will be back to normal within a few days - apologies if you cant open the site at the moment.
The supreme court has passed a judgement that means that if you dont take residence in your first home within the allotted time period there is no way out. You cannot claim that you couldnt take residence because the renovations weren’t finished on time - you have 12 (or 18) months to take your residence or you pay back the incentives you received at act.
In mid August the province passed the new piano paesistico which is creating a furore. All of Sicily now is implementing this 600 odd page document which is designed to protect the island from over eager cement mixers and retain its natural beauty, archeology and wildlife. The province of Ragusa is up in arms over certain clauses which it claims will block the development of the region, ie stop wildcat building - some may say it is already too late.. but basically the nub of the problem is that to build a house on agricultural land now requires that you are a registered farmer or in someway involved with earning a living off the land…. for foreigners with a holidayhome in mind this is bad news. All concessions are currently blocked as the individual comunes are appealing against the piano. Also important is the division of the province into zones - especially the area near the sea which now sees a complete ban on building within 300m of the shoreline, instead of the 150/200 previously. How long this will last is anyones guess. The provinces of Trapani and Messina have already actuated this piano. Siracusa as yet has done nothing.Whether any or none if it will come to much is the question. The principle is sound, but as usual they have passed a law with no consultation when everyone is on holiday and now everyone is screaming blue murder. Will keep you updated.
In response to repeated questions these are the costs for registering a compromesso or preliminare di vendita.One off payment of 168 euros.3 marchi di bollo of 14.62 each for every four pages of documents.If it is a caparra confermatoria you pay 0.5% of the amount as tax (which is offset against your final tax payment at act). If it is a deposit on account you pay 3% of the amount deposited.
The comune of Scicli has decided to reduce the ‘lotto minimo’ to 5000mq instead of 10000mq. This means that you can build on any agricultural land of 5000mq or more in Scicli, Sampieri, Donnalucata etc - still retaining the 0,03mc/mq rule.
A simplification of the laws on manutenzione straordinaria has come into force. It is no longer necessary to present a DIA and wait for 30 days, but only submit a communicazione di inizio lavori along with the project by a tecnico abilitato. Failure to do so will bring a fine of 258 euros, which will be less than the fee charged by the tecnico. This is only valid for works which do not affect the structural fabric of the building, or augment the amount of living space
The law is changin again with regard to notaios. Now it is technically possible to sell or buy a house without being in the same room. You will still have to go to a notaio, but if he can connect via Skype or somesuch to the other notaio, there is no reason to be in Italy. The fees remain the same, but are shared between the notaios - which I think will be the problem for the slow uptake. It is also highly unlikely in the south of Italy that notaios will be technically prepared for such a move - most dont even have internet.
From 1 July it is no longer possible to sell a building catastato as a fabbricato rurale. It must be re-accatastato prior to a sale as an ente urbano. This obviously has significant costs for the seller so before deciding on a sale price the reaccatastamento has to be taken into account.