On July 1st an emergency law comes into effect whereby any sale must have the catastal plans attached to the act of sale. For most people, those who have not reaccatastato the property in the last couple of years, this will mean a trip to the local catasto office to get the plans - which should be ‘the actual state’ of the property. Bear in mind that only the owner, or someone with a specific delega can get these plans.
… and as a consequence everyone seems to be setting up as estate agents to make a quick buck. Bear in mind that even with the changes in the law, you must have a licence to operate as an estate agent in Italy. Consulente, buyers agents, people with a flashy website with Sicily in the title, are generally not estate agents and you will be expected to break the law during the buying process which can lead to fines and problems later on.
Another important change in the manovra is the introduction of new forms to for fiscal evasion. Payment of bills in cash will no longer be allowed for any payment above 5000 euros. Any payment above 3000 euros must have an electronic fattura - so details cannot be changed after the event. Basically this means that an email address is now indispensable for those buying a house.
The emergency budget has introduced what is basically a ‘condono’ for abusively built houses. The move is intended to finally catasto about 2 million properties that hereto don’t officially exist, but in effect it will allow anyone who has built or modified illegally to put ‘their house in order’ by the 31 December this year. In exchange the owner will pay only 33% of the valore catastale as a sanction, and pay all dues and taxes on the property from 1 Jan 2009.
1 TO EXTEND A HOUSE
If you have a house with either 1 or two separate dwellings in it, you can augment the volume by 20% up to a limit of 1000 cubic metres. In practice this means that a villa of 200 mq and with a height to the gutter of about 4 metres can add a room of 25 square metres – ie a small room.
The law also imposes other conditions. The construction must be legal, with all taxes and so on paid, paid up to date. The extension must be in harmony with the rest of the building. There is another condition to respect and it regards the limit of 200mc for the whole building – above which it is not possible to add anything. Any augmentation must respect the minimum distance from a boundary and be according to the new anti seismic laws.
The law also foresees that the fees payable to the commune are reduced by 20% OR 30% IN THE CASE OF PRIMA CASA. If on 31 December 2009 the family was composed of more than 5 members the fees are reduced by 50%. The same applies to a first house owned by a young couple of under 35 years old and married for less than 5 years.
To carry out the work a DIA will suffice, but the risk remains that the Comune can intervene subsequently contesting the legality of any work carried out.
2 RECONSTRUCTION
If you house was built and signed off by 31 Dec 2009 you can knock it down and build a new, bigger one even in a different place. If you choose to rebuild on a different part of your land you must make the original site a ‘green’ space or parking area but using materials that allow the land to remain permeable – ie no asphalt, concrete etc – yes to gravel and grass.
If you knock down and rebuild you can increase your previous volume by 25% using green building methods. At the moment, these techniques are not explained – they should be laid out within three months, including which materials are permitted. If you use renewable energy you can augment the volume by up to 35%.
This law doesn’t allow any change of use for rebuilt buildings – and will not be permitted in a centro storico. The communes have four months to decide where and how the Piano Casa will be permitted.
3 INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS
As long as you don’t have a hotel, or other touristic structure you can add up to 15% of your volume within limits, and only up to 400mq – but using renewable energy you can get up to 25% of volume gain. Again there is no change of use allowed, and no possibility of using the law in a Zona A – ie centro storico.
WHAT’S NOT ALLOWED:
If all or even part of your property was built abusively and subsequently sanato, you can’t take advantage of Piano Casa. Also a property in condominio can’t do anything, and any property in an area where there are vincoli paeseaggistici, idrogeologici, near rivers, coast, or in regional parks or reserves. If you are in a regional park but not in a vincolato zone you can use Piano Casa but all the measurements are reduced by one third.
The DIA
The Denuncia di Inizio Attivita must be presented along with the set fee and the title to the property and proof that you are up to date with your taxes. From the moment – mid July – that the communes set their communal limits on Piano Casa, it will be valid for two years.
The Costs
If you are demolishing and rebuilding you can halve your project fees, otherwise it’s a cut of between 20 and 30% - and the money the communes make must be spent on urban greenery, making dangerous areas secure and/or parking.
The full English text of the law is available as a free update to Buying in Sicily - http://www.buyinginsicily.com
The Piano Casa has been approved for Sicily, and consents the increase in volume for existing property. Only houses finished by 31.12.2009 and with a volume of less than 1000 cubic metres are eligible.
Also, any house that is wholly or in part ‘abusivo’ or which has been sanato cannot take advantage of the new law. Any property which forms part of the piano casa must be in regola, destined as a habitative space and be current with the payment of all taxes due on the building.
It is possible to demolish and rebuild residential property completed by 31.12.2009 using green building methods and energy saving fonts of energy thereby gaining between 20% and 35% of the existent volume. Obviously the greener the new build the greater the increase in volume permitted.
It is also possible to demolish and rebuild on a different footprint, though remaining in the same property as long as the original (demolished) footprint is destined as green space or as parking for the property. It is also allowed to construct one or more underground floors, destined as parking on the condition that the comune is granted the green space above.
In those buildings not classed as residential, an increase in volume is permited up to 25% of the covered space, but not more than 400mq. This 25% of the existent volume must use green building techniques, and this can be augmented to 35% using renewable energy sources. Excluded from this class are hotel and touristic buildings, aswell as commercial buildings and which must in any case fall into the designated areas of the local urban law as ‘industrial’.
The law was passed on 12 March 2010 and the comunes now have 120 days to make local adjustments to the regional law, which means that the piano casa should be fully active by mid July. All work done under the Piano Casa must be completed within 2 years. It appears that it will be the individual comunes decision whether the work can be done with a simple DIA or whether it will require a concessione edilizia.
After a meeting with an all party committee, the omens are good that Italy will decide not to adhere to the request for the abolition of the role of ‘agente immobilaire’ as requested by the European Directive on Services throughout the Europe zone. FIAIP has pointed out repeatedly that the abolition of the need for an agent to be registered would lead to a free for all which could only harm the consumer (buyer) and the profession needs more regulation, not less. There will be a ruling next week which will confirm the governments intended action.
After a year, it looks like Sicily will shortly have a piano casa. It has been mired in a row of whether it should aadopt over 600 amendments to the original bill - as always it has become a party issue rather than what is best for Sicily. HOwever next week the plan should be approved and will be largely what the original draft laid down last year. 20% for extensions, and up to 35% if you knock down and rebuild using green technology. After the passing of the regioinal bill, the comunes will have 90 days to make their amendments.
For anyone dealing with Maltese estate agents who say that Europe is a free market and they can sell property in Sicily, the European Directive on freedom of serviced has NOT been ratified by Italy. This means that any part of a sale that takes place on Italian soil has to come under Italian law. A Maltese agent can only sell illegally in Italy if they are not tied in with a registered Italian agent. If you sign a compromesso in Italy, if the mandate for the sale was signed in Italy etc, the agent must be named in the Italian act of sale and his commission declared in front of the notaio. Not to do so is illegal for the buyer, and means you have no protection in law. it can also mean your act could be rendered null - so its not worth the bother.
The piano casa for Sicily is now in front of the region to be ratified. Don’t hold your breath - there have been 600 amendements submitted by the different parties, everything from whether you will need permission to work to whether you can build in the centro storico and on the beach …. We wait with baited breath…. and then another 90 days…