Buyer's due diligence checklist for Italy
Buyer's due diligence checklistVerifiche prima dell'acquisto di un immobile
The documents and checks a buyer of an existing home in Italy should get before signing the offer or the preliminary contract: title and seller capacity, mortgages, cadastral data, planning status, energy certificate, installations, condominium position and taxes.
Use it from the first visit until you sign the preliminary contract, and again before the deed. The notary checks title and the land registers before the deed, but by then you may have paid a deposit. Ask the seller or the agent for each document early, and have a surveyor (geometra) or architect check the planning and cadastral items.
Reviewed October 28, 2026. Not legal advice. Have a notary or lawyer check your case before you sign.
Key facts
- Applies to
- Whole country. In the provinces of Trento, Bolzano, Trieste and Gorizia and other areas with the land book system (sistema tavolare), the land book replaces the land registers.
- Cadastral conformity
- A deed is void unless it gives the cadastral data, cites the floor plans and confirms they match (legge 52/1985, art. 29, comma 1-bis).
- Energy certificate (APE)
- Valid up to 10 years. Missing clause or attachment in a sale: fine of 3,000 to 18,000 euro, owed jointly (d.lgs. 192/2005, art. 6).
- Condominium arrears
- Buyer jointly liable with the seller for charges of the current and previous year (disp. att. c.c. art. 63).
- Registration tax, private seller
- 9% of the taxable value, minimum 1,000 euro, plus 50 euro mortgage tax and 50 euro cadastral tax (Agenzia delle Entrate).
- First home (prima casa)
- Registration tax 2%, or VAT 4% from a builder (Agenzia delle Entrate).
- First home location
- In the municipality where the buyer lives or works, or the buyer must move residence there within 18 months (Agenzia delle Entrate).
- Previous first-relief home
- Must be sold within 2 years of the new purchase (legge 207/2024, art. 1, comma 116; Agenzia delle Entrate).
- Purchases the 2-year term covers
- Purchases from 1 January 2025, and earlier ones whose 1-year term was still running on 31 December 2024.
- Taxable value (prezzo-valore)
- If asked in the deed, a private buyer of a home pays tax on cadastral income x 1.05 x 120 (x 110 for a first home), not the price.
- Buyer from outside the EU and EEA
- May buy only under reciprocity with the home country or a treaty, unless an exemption applies (preleggi art. 16; Ministero degli Esteri).
The checklist
Seller, title and capacity
Copy of the seller's title deedAtto di provenienza
It shows how the seller acquired the property and what was bought. The notary traces the chain of ownership before the deed.
Seller's identity, tax code and marital property regimeDocumento d'identità, codice fiscale, regime patrimoniale
Every owner must sign. A home bought during a marriage under community of property (comunione legale) belongs to both spouses.
Whether the property came to the seller by gift or inheritanceProvenienza da donazione o successione
Heirs of a donor may later challenge a gift. Ask the notary whether the title is safe and whether insurance or a waiver is needed.
Your own Italian tax codeCodice fiscale
You need a codice fiscale to sign and register any contract.
Reciprocity, if you are not an EU or EEA citizenCondizione di reciprocità
You may buy only if your home country lets Italians buy property, or a treaty allows it.
Exemption for residents with a card or permitCarta di soggiorno; permesso di soggiorno
Land registers and charges
Land register search on the property and the sellerIspezione ipotecaria
Plan for any existing mortgageCancellazione dell'ipoteca
The seller's mortgage must be paid off and cancelled at or before the deed, often with part of your price paid directly to the bank.
Pre-emption rights and protection ordersPrelazione legale o convenzionale; vincoli culturali o paesaggistici
Listed buildings, some farmland and some contracts give others a right to buy first. A sale that ignores it can be challenged.
Whether the preliminary contract will be recordedTrascrizione del preliminare
Cadastre
Current and historical cadastral recordVisura catastale attuale e storica
Cadastral floor plan, compared with the actual homePlanimetria catastale; conformità catastale
Cadastral categoryCategoria catastale
First-home relief excludes categories A/1, A/8 and A/9. The category also sets the taxable value under the prezzo-valore rule.
Planning and building
All building permits since constructionTitoli edilizi: licenza, concessione, permesso di costruire, SCIA, CILA
Surveyor's sworn statement of lawful stateDichiarazione asseverata di stato legittimo
Optional. The Notariato recommends it to document compliance and avoid disputes. Salva Casa (2024) changed tolerance and lawful-state rules.
Certificate of fitness for useCertificato di agibilità or segnalazione certificata di agibilità (SCA)
It certifies that the building is fit for use. Ask why if none exists, for example for an old building or recent works.
Any pending amnesty or regularisation requestDomanda di condono o sanatoria in corso
An open request means the municipality has not yet decided. Until it does, the outcome and the cost are uncertain.
Energy and installations
Energy performance certificateAttestato di prestazione energetica (APE)
Conformity certificates for electrical, gas and heating systemsDichiarazioni di conformità degli impianti
Without them you may need new systems or a technician's report. The Notariato lists this among the checks before the preliminary contract.
Condominium
Administrator's statement of paid charges and pending disputesAttestazione dello stato dei pagamenti e delle liti in corso
Minutes of recent meetings and approved extraordinary worksVerbali di assemblea; delibere di lavori straordinari
Agree in the preliminary contract who pays works approved before the sale.
Condominium rules and budgetRegolamento di condominio; bilancio preventivo e consuntivo
The rules can restrict how owners use their homes. The budget shows the yearly charges.
Taxes, costs and payment
Tax on a purchase from a builderImposta di registro, ipotecaria e catastale; IVA
First-home relief conditionsAgevolazioni prima casa
Request for taxation on cadastral valuePrezzo-valore
Ask the notary in the deed. The tax office cannot reassess the value, and notary fees drop 30%. The deed must still state the real price.
Traceable payment and agent detailsDichiarazione sostitutiva su mezzi di pagamento e mediazione
The deed must state how each sum was paid and the agent's details and commission. Pay by bank transfer or non-transferable cheque only.
Home still to be built, bought from a builderFideiussione e polizza decennale (d.lgs. 122/2005)
Formalities
A due diligence list is a checklist by nature. In Italy the notary runs the final title checks, but only at the deed. These checks protect the buyer before money changes hands.
- You do not sign this checklist.
- Anyone can get a cadastral record (visura catastale) free, and a land register search (ispezione ipotecaria) for a fee, online from the Agenzia delle Entrate.
- Online access to the Agenzia delle Entrate uses SPID, CIE or CNS.
- The free online cadastral search does not cover the provinces of Trento and Bolzano.
- Floor plans are open only to owners and people they authorise, so ask the seller.
- Building permits are in the municipal archive. Get them through a request for access to records.
Common mistakes
- Relying on the listing for area and layout. Compare the cadastral floor plan with the home room by room.
- Missing works done without a permit, such as a moved wall or a closed balcony. They can delay or block the deed.
- Treating cadastral conformity as planning compliance. The cadastre records the property for tax. Only building permits show it was built and altered lawfully.
- Not asking the condominium administrator about approved extraordinary works. The seller may want you to pay works decided before the sale.
- Paying a large deposit before the land register search. A mortgage or attachment recorded later binds you unless your preliminary contract was recorded first.
- Claiming first-home relief without meeting the conditions. If you lose it, you pay the difference in tax, interest and a 30% penalty.
- Buying from a builder before completion without the notarial preliminary contract and the bank or insurance guarantee the law requires.
Legal basis
- Legge 27 febbraio 1985, n. 52, art. 29, comma 1-bis (cadastral conformity in deeds)
- D.P.R. 6 giugno 2001, n. 380, art. 9-bis, comma 1-bis (lawful state of the property), as amended in 2024
- D.Lgs. 19 agosto 2005, n. 192, art. 6 (energy performance certificate)
- Disposizioni per l'attuazione del Codice civile (R.D. 30 marzo 1942, n. 318), art. 63
- Codice civile, art. 1130, n. 9 (administrator's statement of paid charges and pending disputes)
- Codice civile, art. 2645-bis (recording of preliminary contracts)
- D.Lgs. 20 giugno 2005, n. 122, art. 6 (preliminary contract for homes to be built)
Sources
- Garanzia preliminare: la sicurezza nel contratto di compravendita immobiliare
- L'acquisto della casa: le imposte e le agevolazioni fiscali (October 2025)
- Ispezione ipotecaria online
- Visura catastale online
- Diritti e reciprocità
- Direttiva Case Green, Governo al lavoro sul decreto di recepimento (12 October 2026)
- Art. 16 preleggi. Trattamento dello straniero (text and commentary)