Due Diligence When Buying Property in Italy: A Legal Checklist

Purchasing a property in Italy without having carried out a preliminary legal verification is one of the most costly mistakes a foreign buyer can make. Problems that surface after the notarial deed is signed — undischarged mortgages, non-remediable planning irregularities, service charges owed by the previous owner, encumbered properties — can render the purchase unusable or commit the buyer to years of litigation.

Property due diligence is the set of legal, cadastral, planning and documentary checks that the buyer must carry out before signing the preliminary contract (compromesso) or, at the very latest, before the notarial deed. This guide explains the essential checks to carry out, the documents to request, and the warning signs to recognise. For a general overview of the purchase process: Buying Property in Italy as a Foreigner: 5 Essential Legal Tips.

Why Due Diligence Is Different in Italy

• The seller does not automatically guarantee planning regularity: in Italy, verifying planning and building compliance is the buyer’s responsibility. The notary verifies the deed but does not check the regularity of the construction as a matter of course.
• Non-conformities can render the deed void: Art. 46, D.P.R. no. 380/2001 provides for the nullity of transfer deeds that fail to state the details of the planning title. Certain non-remediable irregularities can render the property unsaleable.
• Mortgages do not discharge automatically: a mortgage registered against the property follows the asset, not the debtor. If the seller has an outstanding loan, the mortgage remains on the property even after the sale unless it is discharged simultaneously with the deed.
• Service charge arrears are a burden on the property: where the previous owner is in arrears to the building management (condominio), the buyer is jointly and severally liable for charges for the current year and the preceding year (Art. 63, para. 4, implementation provisions of the c.c.), understood as the effective two-year period preceding the transfer.
• Gift-origin property was a specific risk: until the 2025 reform (Law no. 182 of 2 December 2025), a buyer from a donee was exposed to the forced heirship clawback action for twenty years from the date of the gift. The reform has significantly reduced this risk for third-party buyers. See Checklist 7 for the updated analysis.

Checklist 1: Cadastral Search

The visura catastale (cadastral search) is the starting point for any property due diligence. It contains the identifying data of the property (sheet, plot, sub-unit), the cadastral rental value (rendita catastale), and the floor plans filed with the Land Registry.

• Cadastral registration: verify that the seller is in fact registered as owner in the cadastre. Any discrepancy between the cadastral registration and the mortgage register must be clarified before the deed.
• Floor plan correspondence: compare the cadastral floor plan with the property’s actual layout. Every modification (opening of doorways, removal of walls, extensions) must have been declared to the cadastre. The cadastral conformity obligation (Art. 19, D.L. no. 78/2010) applies only to transfer contracts — not to the preliminary agreement — and is a condition of any action under Art. 2932 c.c.
• Cadastral rental value: the basis for calculating purchase taxes (registration tax, mortgage tax, cadastral tax) and IMU.
• Cadastral category: verify that it corresponds to the actual use of the property. An incorrect category may prevent the application of prima casa tax reliefs or give rise to authorisation problems.

Checklist 2: Mortgage Register Search

The visura ipotecaria (mortgage register search) at the Property Registers reveals the legal history of the property and the existence of encumbrances, charges, and transcriptions. It is the most important check for the security of the purchase and must cover a period of at least twenty years.

• Voluntary mortgages: registered by the bank as security for the seller’s loan. They must be discharged simultaneously with the notarial deed, typically with part of the purchase price directed to repay the outstanding loan.
• Judicial mortgages: registered following judgments or interim measures against the seller. A serious warning sign — they indicate enforcement proceedings that may involve the property.
• Attachments and seizures: where the property has been attached, the sale cannot proceed without the authorisation of the enforcement judge. A purchase made in breach of an attachment is ineffective against the attaching creditor.
• Easements (servitù): third-party rights over the property (right of way, right of light) that restrict the owner’s powers.
• Transcribed preliminary contracts: confer priority on the transcribing buyer in the event of a double sale.
• Rights of habitation or use: in particular, the surviving spouse’s right of habitation (Art. 540, para. 2, c.c.) in an inherited estate may prevent the bare owner from freely disposing of the property.
• Claims and charges: transcriptions of judicial acts relating to the property — clawback actions (azioni revocatorie), forced heirship reduction actions, and — following Law no. 182/2025 — claims for reduction of gifts now transcribable under the new Art. 2652, no. 1, c.c.

Checklist 3: Planning and Building Regularity

Verifying planning and building regularity is the most complex check and the most frequently overlooked. It requires access to the municipal records (planning and building office) and, in most cases, the assistance of a qualified surveyor (geometra), architect, or engineer.

• Original planning title: the original building licence or building permit. It must correspond to the property as actually built.
• Building amnesties and regularisation: where the property or part of it was the subject of a building amnesty (condono edilizio), verify that the amnesty was properly completed and that the due payments (oblazioni) were made.
• Non-remediable irregularities: surface area increases beyond permitted limits, unauthorised changes of use, construction in protected zones (nature reserves, seismic zones, buffer areas). These cannot be regularised and may render the property partially or wholly unsaleable.
• SCIA and DIA notifications: for recent works, verify that the works notifications were duly filed and did not give rise to refusals or demolition orders.

Case law has definitively settled the relationship between formal nullity and substantive non-conformity:

Textual (not implied) nullity — Cass. civ., Full Court, nos. 8230/2019 and 15587/2022: the nullity under Art. 46, D.P.R. no. 380/2001 is textual in nature and applies exclusively to the failure to include the planning title details in the deed. Where the declaration is present, the contract is valid regardless of whether the construction conforms to the title or not. Cass. civ., Sec. II, order no. 33243/2023: the nullity applies only to the building permit or amnesty permit, not to the absence of other approvals (e.g. a DIA for internal works without volume increase). Cass. civ., Sec. II, order no. 16180/2026: cancellation of the planning title after the deed does not give rise to textual nullity but constitutes a substantive non-conformity.

Non-conformities as encumbrances under Art. 1489 c.c. — Cass. civ., Sec. II, order no. 31823/2023: undisclosed planning non-conformities constitute encumbrances under Art. 1489 c.c., subject to the ordinary ten-year limitation period rather than the short forfeiture periods of Art. 1495 c.c. Cass. civ., Sec. II, judgment no. 4005/2024: the burden of proving that the buyer knew of the non-conformity rests on the seller. A non-conformity with the building licence is knowable by the owner but not by the buyer, who may therefore rely on the ten-year period.

An important point for the foreign buyer: textual nullity does not apply to preliminary contracts, which have only obligatory effect. Regularisation can therefore take place after the preliminary contract and before the final deed. For partial non-conformities that do not amount to essential variations, a forced transfer under Art. 2932 c.c. is possible even where the works cannot be regularised at an administrative level.

Checklist 4: Energy Performance Certificate (APE)

The Attestato di Prestazione Energetica (APE — Energy Performance Certificate) is mandatory for any property sale in Italy (Legislative Decree no. 192/2005). It must be drawn up by a qualified and independent professional, attached to both the preliminary contract and the notarial deed, and is valid for ten years. The obligation to produce it rests on the seller, unless the parties agree otherwise.

Two important clarifications on a commonly misunderstood point:

• Failure to attach the APE does not render the contract void: following the repeal of the nullity sanctions originally provided, the absence of an APE does not invalidate the contract, but constitutes a breach by the seller that may justify rescission.
• It cannot be remedied by a subsequent notarial correction: the APE must precede the deed. The correction procedure under Art. 59-bis of the Notarial Law presupposes the correction of pre-existing data, not the addition of missing content; attaching an APE produced after the deed by way of correction is void and constitutes a disciplinary offence by the notary.

Cass. civ., Sec. II, judgment no. 21985/2026: the APE must precede the notarial deed and cannot be attached by way of a subsequent notarial correction — the correction procedure presupposes an error in pre-existing data, not the insertion of missing content. Cass. civ., Sec. II, order no. 19402/2025: the absence of the habitability certificate constitutes a breach by the seller, not a cause of nullity. Cass. civ., Sec. II, judgment no. 16630/2026: failure to deliver the habitability certificate is in itself a source of actual loss for the reduced market value of the property, which may be quantified on an equitable basis.

Checklist 5: Certificate of Habitability

The certificate of habitability (certificato di agibilità, now designated the certified habitability declaration — SCA — under Art. 24, D.P.R. no. 380/2001) certifies that the property meets the statutory requirements of safety, hygiene, healthfulness and energy efficiency and is fit for its intended use. Its absence does not render the sale void, but constitutes a breach by the seller that entitles the buyer to a reduction in price, rescission, and compensation for the resulting reduction in the market value of the property. It can also complicate the obtaining of a mortgage and any subsequent resale. For properties built before 1967, the certificate may never have been issued: it is necessary to verify whether the property meets the minimum current requirements.

Checklist 6: Building Management Situation

Where the property forms part of a building with shared management (condominio), request the following information from the seller and verify directly with the building manager (amministratore di condominio):

• Seller’s arrears: the buyer is jointly and severally liable for charges for the effective two-year period preceding the transfer (Art. 63, para. 4, implementation provisions of the c.c.) — calculated from the date of the deed, not by calendar year. The mere accounting carry-forward of prior debts in subsequent budgets does not extend the buyer’s joint liability beyond the two-year period.
• Approved extraordinary works: extraordinary expenses (roof repair, lift installation, façade work) are borne by whoever was a co-owner at the time the general meeting approved the resolution — even if the works have not yet been carried out at the date of the deed.
• Ongoing litigation: court proceedings against contractors or suppliers that could give rise to extraordinary liabilities.
• Building regulations (regolamento di condominio): any restrictions on use of the unit (prohibition on short-term letting, restrictions on pets, exclusive use of certain areas).
• Millesimal tables (tabelle millesimali): the unit’s share of contribution to common expenses.

Effective two-year period — Trib. Napoli no. 2711/2026: the “twenty-four months” of Art. 63, implementation provisions of the c.c., are to be understood as the effective two-year period preceding the transfer, not by calendar year. Trib. Perugia no. 366/2026 and Trib. Arezzo no. 935/2024: the mere accounting carry-forward of prior debts does not extend the buyer’s joint liability. Trib. Terni no. 851/2025: extraordinary expenses are borne by whoever was a co-owner at the time of the general meeting resolution. Burden of proof — Trib. Napoli no. 5155/2025: the burden of specifying which amounts fall within the two-year period rests on the building management as creditor.

Checklist 7: Legal Title and History of the Property

Beyond the specific documentary checks, it is important to reconstruct the legal history of the property by examining the title documents for the past twenty years.

• Gift origin — 2025 UPDATE: Law no. 182 of 2 December 2025 (Art. 44) has radically reformed this area. The new Art. 563 c.c. provides that the reduction of a gift no longer affects third-party buyers from the donee: the donee is required to compensate the forced heirs in cash; only where the donee is insolvent is a gratuitous transferee required to compensate within the limits of the benefit received. This means that the risk of eviction for a buyer of a gifted property is drastically reduced under the new regime. In parallel, the new Art. 2652, no. 1, c.c. allows claims for reduction of gifts to be transcribed — an item to be checked in the mortgage register search. The old regime continues to apply to successions opened before the reform where the forced heirs gave timely notice of opposition within the six-month transitional period. For successions already open, therefore, check whether any transcribed opposition notices appear.
• Inherited property: verify that the succession declaration was duly filed and that the property was correctly transcribed in the names of the heirs who formally accepted the inheritance.
• Recent purchase by the seller: where the seller acquired the property less than three years ago, it is worth investigating the previous purchase price and the reason for the resale.
• Property from judicial auction: released from mortgages and attachments at the time of the award, but with a more complex chain of title. For further detail: Buying Property at Auction in Italy.

The Timing: When to Carry Out Due Diligence

Due diligence must be carried out before signing the preliminary contract. Once the preliminary contract is signed, the buyer is committed: if problems emerge and the buyer decides to withdraw, the deposit paid is forfeited.

• Conditional purchase offer: include a condition precedent tied to the satisfactory completion of due diligence within a defined period (e.g. 30 days). If the checks reveal irremediable problems, the buyer has a contractual right to withdraw and recover any sums paid.
• Full due diligence before the preliminary contract: carried out with the support of a lawyer and a qualified surveyor.
• Preliminary contract with specific seller warranties: declarations and warranties on planning regularity, the absence of undisclosed mortgages, and the building management situation.

For further detail on the preliminary contract: Preliminary Contract for Purchase of Real Estate in Italy.

A practical note: in addition to legal assistance, it is important to involve a qualified surveyor (geometra) to produce a technical report on the property’s actual state in relation to the planning documents filed with the municipality. This report often reveals the most significant issues early enough to renegotiate or withdraw.

Frequently Asked Questions

Doesn’t the notary already carry out all these checks?

The notary verifies cadastral correspondence (as required by law for transfer deeds) and reviews the mortgage register. However, the notary does not systematically check planning and building regularity, the building management situation, or the property’s legal history beyond what is strictly necessary for the validity of the deed. Full due diligence is the buyer’s responsibility and must be carried out with their own lawyer before the deed.

What happens if I discover a mortgage after the deed that I did not know about?

If the mortgage was registered before the deed, the notary should have identified it in the mortgage register search — and a claim against the notary for professional liability may arise. If the mortgage was not transcribed, or was fraudulently registered after the deed, the buyer has a claim against the seller for eviction (evizione, Art. 1483 c.c.) and damages.

Has the 2025 reform eliminated the risk of buying gifted property?

Significantly reduced, but not eliminated. For successions opened after Law no. 182/2025, the donee is required to compensate forced heirs in cash — not to return the property — and the third-party buyer is therefore protected from eviction. Residual risk concerns: (a) successions already open before the reform where forced heirs transcribed an opposition notice within the six-month transitional period; (b) cases of insolvency of the donee where a gratuitous transferee may be called on to compensate. For purchases of recently gifted property, always check the mortgage register for any claims for reduction transcribed under the new Art. 2652, no. 1, c.c.

Is the APE mandatory for very old properties?

Yes. The obligation to attach the APE applies to all properties, regardless of when they were built. For properties not recently renovated, the energy rating will probably be low (F or G), but the APE must nonetheless be produced. Failure to attach it does not render the contract void, but constitutes a breach by the seller that may justify rescission.

Conclusion

Property due diligence is the essential precondition for purchasing an Italian property with full awareness and without hidden risks. The seven checklists set out in this guide cover the principal areas of risk, but every property has its own history and its own specific issues. The legal framework is evolving — the 2025 gift origin reform is the most recent example — and checks must take account of these developments.

For information on the taxes applicable to purchase: Taxes and Property Duties in Italy: What You Need to Know and Buying Property in Italy from Abroad: Complete Legal Guide.

For assistance with property due diligence in Italy, Studio Legale Giorgianni is available. Further information is available in the Italian Real Estate Lawyer section and on our Italian Lawyer hub page.