Buying land or a house in Italy as an investment: first the paperwork, then the price
You don't have to emigrate to buy in Italy. But if you buy land or an old house in the countryside, the risks are rarely in the price. They are in the paperwork: what may be built on the land, whether what is there is permitted, and what the landscape rules say. Four things to have checked before you sign, and how the house counts in your Dutch tax return.
6 min read
Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.
You don't have to live in Italy to buy there. As a Dutch citizen you buy without restriction, even if you keep living in the Netherlands.
Investors often choose something other than a flat in town: a plot of land to build on, or an old house in the countryside to restore. There the risks are rarely in the price. They are in the paperwork.
Four questions to have answered before you sign anything:
- The land. What does the municipality allow on this plot?
- The building. Is everything that stands there permitted, down to the water tank and the veranda?
- The landscape. Is it in a protected area, so that every change needs an extra permit?
- The tax. How does the house count in your Dutch tax return, and what do you pay in Italy?
This is not a survey. Whether land may be built on, or whether a water tank is permitted, only an expert on site can judge. This article says what to have checked and by whom. The checking itself is done by a technician: a geometra (a surveyor and building expert in one), an architect or an engineer.
What may be built on a plot of land?
Every sale of land comes with a certificato di destinazione urbanistica, the CDU for short. It is a statement from the municipality about the land's zoning: which rules from the zoning plan apply. It tells you whether you may build there, and what.
The CDU is not a formality. The law says that a deed for land without a CDU is void: the notary may not execute or register it. This is how it works:
- The municipality must issue the CDU within 30 days of your request.
- It stays valid for a year, as long as the zoning plan does not change in that time.
- Land that belongs to a building does not need one if that land totals less than 5,000 m².
At the deed it is too late to read the CDU for the first time. Request it before you sign the preliminary contract, the compromesso. Then you know what you are buying before you pay a deposit.
Also be careful with land sold in lots with a clear intention to build. If that happens without the municipality's permission, it is called a lottizzazione abusiva: an illegal subdivision. With a plot, also have it checked that the subdivision was approved by the municipality.
Is what already stands there permitted?
For a house the law requires something similar. The deed must state the details of the building permit (permesso di costruire) or of the permit granted afterwards (permesso in sanatoria). If construction started after 17 March 1985 and those details are missing, the deed is void.
A permit in the deed does not yet mean everything is in order. The law calls the legal state of a building the stato legittimo. It follows from the permit under which it was built, plus the permits for later renovations. Anything added later without its own permit is not part of that legal state.
That is where the risk lies in practice. Think of:
- an extension or an extra room;
- a canopy, veranda or pergola;
- a swimming pool;
- a water tank or a well;
- an outbuilding that is now used as a bedroom.
Have a technician compare the permits from the municipal archive with the building and the cadastral drawing. If something differs, you know before the purchase whether it can be fixed, what that costs and who pays.
May I build whatever I want?
Even on building land, the municipality decides how big you may build. A house that is too large for the plot will not get a permit. You find this in the zoning plan, and the CDU says which rules apply to your land.
On top of that comes the landscape. If the land lies in an area protected for its landscape, a stricter rule applies:
- You may not change anything that harms the protected landscape.
- You submit your plans to the competent authority in advance.
- You only start building once you have the landscape permit, the autorizzazione paesaggistica.
So have a technician do a feasibility check before the purchase. This is how you go about it:
- Give him the CDU, the cadastral details and your plans: how big, how many floors, a pool or not.
- Ask what is allowed on this land, which permits are needed and roughly how long they take.
- Ask your notary whether the purchase can be made conditional on the outcome in the compromesso.
Buying in Puglia? Then you can also bring in Villa Puglia Invest. Bas and Roxanne guide Dutch buyers through finding land, the permits and the build. They bought there themselves and now live there. Vertrekklaar receives nothing for this.
What else do I arrange before the purchase?
Two things that apply to every buyer, even if you won't live there:
- A codice fiscale. Without that Italian tax number you sign nothing. You can apply for it from the Netherlands; this is how.
- A notary. As the buyer you choose the notaio yourself. He checks ownership and mortgages, and collects the taxes at the deed. What that costs is in buying a house in Italy.
If you don't live there, you also don't get the main-residence benefit, the prima casa benefit. So count on the standard rate, and on the annual municipal tax on a second home, the IMU.
How does it count in my Dutch tax?
If you keep living in the Netherlands, a house in Italy is a second home in box 3 for the Belastingdienst, the Dutch tax authority. You declare the value the house has in the open market, in vacant condition. The Belastingdienst uses the value on 1 January of the year before the year you file for.
Italy and the Netherlands have a tax treaty. It says:
- Italy may tax income from real estate in Italy (article 6).
- The Netherlands grants a reduction on Dutch tax for that income (article 24).
How that reduction works out in box 3 for you is calculated by the tax return. If you plan to rent out, have a tax adviser check it in advance. Then a second country counts in your return, and Italy has its own rules for rental income.
And if you want to live there later?
Many investors don't stop at a holiday home. Once you've spent a few summers there, you sometimes go for good. Then a lot changes: you register, your healthcare and your tax move with you, and the house can become your main residence.
One thing to know now if you are retiring: if you have a foreign pension and move to a municipality with at most 30,000 inhabitants in Puglia or seven other southern regions, you can choose a 7% tax in Italy on all your foreign income. That limit was raised from 20,000 on 7 April 2026. More in state pension and pension in Italy.
Will you live there one day? Then Vertrekklaar lays out every step for you: in your order, ready to tick off, with the deadlines watched. See the whole route to Italy.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- DPR 380/2001 (Testo unico edilizia), article 30 — the certificato di destinazione urbanistica when land is sold — normattiva.it
- DPR 380/2001, article 46 — the building permit in the deed — normattiva.it
- DPR 380/2001, article 9-bis — the legal state of a building — normattiva.it
- D.Lgs. 42/2004 (Codice dei beni culturali e del paesaggio), article 146 — the landscape permit — normattiva.it
- Belastingdienst — a second home, such as a holiday home, in box 3 — belastingdienst.nl
- Tax treaty Netherlands–Italy 1990 (Trb. 1990, 86) — articles 6 and 24 — wetten.overheid.nl
- Agenzia delle Entrate — the 7% regime for foreign pensioners — agenziaentrate.gov.it
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