Cadastral and Urban Planning Compliance

The register of all real estate on Italian national territory, both privately and publicly owned, is known as the "Cadastre".

The body in charge of managing the Cadastre is the Agenzia delle Entrate, the Italian State Revenue Agency.

The foundation of the regulatory framework currently in force on the purchase-sale process, and any other transfer of real estate in Italy, is Law no. 122 of 30/07/2010, which officialised Decree law no. 78 of 31/05/2010.

Under penalty of nullity of the deed of purchase, this Law provides that there must be a triple conformity between: i) the actual state of the property; ii) what is recorded in the Cadastre; iii) what is recorded in the archives of the municipality where the property is located.

The Cadastre consists of two separate archives:

The urban buildings register
The lands register

The body in charge of managing the Cadastre is the Agenzia delle Entrate, the Italian State Revenue Agency.

Why is this required?

As we mentioned above, the Cadastre has no evidential character under the Italian legal system, since some of the records and data can be changed by means of a simple sworn document issued by any qualified technician. Instead, all of the files reporting the history of the various building and urban planning authorisations, for the events that brought the property to its current state, are held in the archives of the Municipal Technical Office where the property is located.

For example, the Cadastre will contain plan drawings of the property, which we may find conform with the current state of the property. However the records in the Municipal Archives may well show different characteristics for the property, due to the owners having carried out works without applying for the necessary building or urban planning authorisations ‒ and worse still, the current state may not be admissible by law.

The result of all this: when such problems emerge, for example in connection with new renovation works or a subsequent sale, the notarial deed will become null and void, i.e. without legal value, thus triggering a whole series of legal problems with harmful consequences.

You can therefore imagine how important it is that a property be equipped with our "Certificate of Approval" which guarantees the Buyer the full compliance of the property with the parameters set by the various laws governing the sale, purchase and any other transfer of real estate in Italy.

Our certification, following verification of the above, will avoid any kind of problem, unwelcome surprise or dispute, before, during and after the purchase of your new property. And it will save you from long, exhausting and expensive legal proceedings in Italy, allowing you to benefit from absolute peace of mind and the pleasure of your new purchase.