Documents to sell a house in Italy: the complete checklist

To sell a house in Italy you need 4 kinds of documents: proof of ownership, cadastral records, the building permits held by the municipality and the energy performance certificate. It pays to gather them before you publish the listing. If something is missing, you find out calmly, not during the negotiation or in front of the notary (notaio), the public official who draws up the deed of sale.

Here is the list I use when we prepare a house for sale.

1. Ownership and title

• Identity document and Italian tax code (codice fiscale) for every owner.
• The seller’s title deed (atto di provenienza): the deed by which you bought the house, or the gift or succession through which you received it.
• Marital status and property regime: if you are married under community of property (comunione dei beni), your spouse also needs to take part in the final deed of sale (rogito).
• If you inherited the house: the declaration of succession (an inheritance tax return) and the cadastral transfer (voltura catastale), which records the new owner in the cadastre. The notary will also check that the inheritance has been accepted.

2. Cadastre

• An up-to-date cadastral search (visura catastale): the record held by the cadastre (catasto), the property register used for tax purposes.
• The cadastral floor plan (planimetria catastale) on file.

Since 1 July 2010 the deed of sale must state that the cadastral data and floor plan match the house as it really is. An enclosed veranda, a partition wall that has been moved or a cellar turned into a basement living room can make the floor plan non-compliant. If so, it must be updated before the final deed.

3. Building permits and fitness for use

• Building licences, concessions and permits (licenze, concessioni, permessi di costruire) and DIA and SCIA notices (notices of building works filed by a licensed technician).
• Any retrospective regularisations (sanatorie) or building amnesties (condoni), that is, approvals granted after the work was done.
• Certificate of fitness for use (agibilità), or the certified notice of fitness for use (segnalazione certificata di agibilità), if there is one.

This is where the most common problems with lake houses hide: enclosed pergolas, canopies, roof spaces turned into living space, pools added over the years. Planning and building compliance (conformità urbanistica) is checked by comparing these documents with the house as it really is. I request them from the municipality with your written authorisation. If a discrepancy comes to light, the application to put it right is signed by an independent licensed technician.

4. Energy and systems

• Energy performance certificate (APE): the energy rating and the energy performance index must be stated in the listing itself. The certificate must also be given to the buyer and attached to the deed.
• Declarations of conformity for the building’s systems (dichiarazioni di conformità degli impianti), such as wiring and heating, if you have them. They are not always required to sell, but they reassure buyers.

5. If the house is in a condominium

In Italy a condominium is any building or complex with shared parts, run by the owners together.

• Condominium rules (regolamento di condominio).
• A statement from the building manager on the state of the charges: buyers want to know whether there are unpaid instalments or major works that have already been approved.

6. If there is a mortgage

• A redemption statement from the bank. The mortgage can be paid off at the final deed with part of the sale price, and the charge on the property is then cancelled.

What happens if a document is missing

It depends on the document. Most can be obtained again: a cadastral search in a few minutes, an updated floor plan or energy performance certificate in a few days. Others take longer, such as a retrospective regularisation or a succession that was never completed. What matters is finding out before you publish the listing. A negotiation that stalls a month before the final deed loses you the buyer and often part of the price too.

If you like, I will check the documents for your house during the free valuation.

This article gives general information. For your own case, ask a notary or a licensed technician.