Property in Italy, An Update on “Piano Casa”

Some months ago we covered the details of the much discussed Berlusconi's “Piano Casa”, which allows property owners to expand the volume of their homes by 20% or even 30% in case of complete reconstruction of the property and up to 35% if the property is rebuilt using eco-friendly materials. 
Italy Government's plan has to be discussed, agreed and implemented by each Italian region which will adapt and change the regulation according to its needs. This means that even though the Government regulation is quite clear, whoever wants to use the plan and increase the home size has to verify the regulations adopted by the region where the property is located. 

Of course not all regions are running at the same pace throughout Italy, some are already in the execution phase where the permission requests for property expansion can be handed to the authorities, other regions have already approved the plan but are waiting for municipalities to hand their deliberations, and other regions still have to approve the plan. The permission requests (called DIA) can be handed for a limited period of time and the limit varies for each region.

So far the regions that are already reviewing the permission to expand their properties are 6: 

Lombardy, which has been the latest to give the go ahead, provides a period within which is possible to hand the requests that started on October 16 and will go ahead for 18 months, Piedmont since 30^th September 09 to 31^st December 2011, Emilia Romagna (22^nd September 09 – 31^st December 2010), Tuscany (which was the first Italian region to approve the plan: 28^th May 09 – 31^st December 2010) , Trentino Alto Adige (15^th August 09 – works must start by 31^st December 2010) and Umbria (since 30^th August for 18 months). 

The regions which have approved the home plan but are waiting for the handing of the permission requests before giving the go ahead are: Veneto, which will be ready on 31^st October up to 11^th July 2011, Abruzzo from December 30^th 2009 to December 30^th 2011, Basilicata (November 9^th for 24 months), Lazio (from 6^th December for 24 months), Puglia (from 25^th November 09 for 18 months), Marche (1^st December 09 for the next 18 months) and Valle d'Aosta, which has given to its municipalities the flexibility to change the law application on their properties.

The regions that still have to approve the plan are Calabria, Campania, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Molise, Sardinia and Sicily. For these regions it is likely that terms to hand the permission requests will start in 2010.

Overall, all regions have adopted, or are going to, the same regulation. In fact for all Italian Regions the actions taken for their properties must be aimed to improve energy efficiency and cut heating consumption at least by 10 per cent. Some regions, such as Le Marche, Umbria and Abruzzo, have also included in the plan restorations that take into consideration anti-seismic regulations in order to renew and make safer a good number of properties.