Due Diligence Before Buying Property in Italy: the Catasto, the Land Registers, Building Compliance and the Salva Casa Law

1What needs to be checked before buying property in Italy?

Three layers are checked: the legal layer, i.e. who the owner is and which encumbrances are registered against the property; the cadastral layer, i.e. whether the property as it actually stands matches its record and floor plan in the Catasto; and the planning layer, i.e. whether what has been built matches the permits issued by the municipality. Alongside these, the energy certificate, condominium debts, conservation restrictions and pre-emption rights are checked.

The notaio is a public official, neutral between the parties, and checks the registers and the declarations in the deed. Comparing the building as it stands with the municipal files is the job of a qualified technician, and it is done before the compromesso, the binding preliminary agreement. We cover the transaction steps and the taxes in separate guides on the purchase process and on purchase taxes and IMU.

2What is the difference between a visura catastale and a visura ipotecaria?

A visura catastale is an extract from the Catasto of the Agenzia delle Entrate, and it describes the property: identification (municipality, foglio, particella, subalterno), category, size, cadastral income (rendita) and the registered owners. A visura ipotecaria is carried out in the land registers, formerly called the Conservatoria dei Registri Immobiliari and today the Servizi di Pubblicità Immobiliare of the same agency. It shows the legal history: transfers, mortgages, attachments and claims that have been registered.

Do not rely on the visura catastale alone to know who the owner is. The notaio compares the cadastral data with the deed by which the seller acquired the property, and the chain of ownership is built from the registers. The cadastral floor plan is not open to everyone, and a buyer usually obtains it through the seller or a technician acting on the seller's behalf.

3Why check 20 years back, and what are you looking for in the registers?

The 20-year period is linked to acquisitive prescription (usucapione): under Article 1158 of the Civil Code, 20 years of continuous possession is enough to acquire ownership of real estate. A continuous chain of registered transfers over that period greatly reduces the risk of someone else holding a superior right.

• Transfers - to confirm that the seller is the registered owner of everything being sold.
• Mortgages (ipoteche) - the seller's mortgage is usually discharged at closing. The mechanism is agreed already in the compromesso.
• Attachments (pignoramenti) - a registered attachment in practice blocks the sale until it is cancelled.
• Registered claims (domande giudiziali) - for example, a claim over ownership.
• Easements (servitù) - some are registered, but rights of way exercised in practice sometimes only come to light on site.

The notaio can prepare a relazione notarile ventennale, a report summarising the 20 years. There is no general obligation to prepare it, but in a significant transaction it is worth requesting it, or an equivalent check by a lawyer, before the compromesso.

4What is conformità catastale, and what happens if it is missing?

A deed transferring rights in an existing building must include, on pain of nullity, the cadastral identification, a reference to the floor plans filed with the Catasto, and a declaration by the parties that the data and floor plans match the actual state. The declaration may be replaced by a certification from a qualified technician. This is the rule in Article 29, paragraph 1-bis of Law 52/1985, added in 2010 (DL 78/2010, converted by Law 122/2010).

Paragraph 1-ter, from 2017, allows a deed lacking these elements to be confirmed retroactively, but not where the floor plan does not exist or does not match the actual state. In July 2026 the Supreme Court (Cassazione, judgment 22902) held that such a confirmation does not erase the notaio's disciplinary liability. Therefore, if walls have been moved or the room layout changed, the seller must update the Catasto through a technician before the rogito.

5How do you check that the construction is lawful (conformità urbanistica-edilizia)?

A qualified technician (geometra, engineer or architect) submits a request to inspect the municipality's building archive (accesso agli atti), locates all the permits issued for the building and the unit, and compares them with an on-site survey. The result is a determination of the stato legittimo, the property's legal status, and a list of deviations from it.

The deed itself must state the permits (Article 46 of the Building Code, DPR 380/2001, and for older buildings Article 40 of Law 47/1985), and for a building whose construction began before 1 September 1967 a declaration to that effect is given instead. The Supreme Court sitting in joint session (Sezioni Unite, judgment 8230/2019) held that this is a formal nullity: if the deed states a genuine permit for the property, it is valid even if there are irregularities. In other words, a valid deed does not protect you. You inherit the irregularities, together with the risk of a demolition order or a fine, difficulties with a mortgage and a resale, and refusal of a renovation permit.

In many older properties, part of the construction was regularised through condono procedures, general amnesty laws of the past. Make sure the regularisation was actually granted and paid for, and not merely applied for.

6What did the Salva Casa law change in 2024?

Decree-law DL 69/2024 entered into force on 30 May 2024 and was converted with amendments by Law 105/2024, which entered into force on 28 July 2024. Three changes matter to buyers:

• Proof of legal status: the stato legittimo can be proven by the permit for the last intervention affecting the whole building or unit, together with later permits, provided the municipality has already checked the earlier ones. Regularisation permits also count. The age of the building alone does not prove legality.
• Permitted deviations (tolleranze): for works carried out by 24 May 2024, the permitted deviation grows as the unit gets smaller (see the table). For later works, the ordinary 2% rule still applies.
• Regularisation of partial irregularities (Article 36-bis): it is sufficient for the work to comply with urban planning rules on the date of the application and with the building rules in force when it was carried out, plus a payment. Construction with no permit at all still requires the “double conformity” under Article 36.

Source: edilizia.com, updated July 2026. A unit cannot be split to move into a better band, and the 2% rule still applies to distances. Salva Casa did not make every property marketable. Each deviation needs to be classified: permitted, capable of regularisation, or requiring demolition, and the compromesso sets out who regularises and who pays.

7Is a certificate of habitability (agibilità) required?

The certificate of habitability attests to conditions of safety, hygiene and energy saving, and today is obtained through a certified declaration by a technician (segnalazione certificata di agibilità) under Article 24 of the Building Code. Its absence does not void the deed, but it harms marketability, and where the substantive conditions for obtaining it are missing the buyer may be able to claim termination or damages.

8What is required regarding the energy certificate (APE)?

In a sale, the seller must provide an APE, the deed includes a clause on its delivery and a copy is attached. According to a summary on the notaries' website NotaiOnline from September 2026, a deed without the clause or the attachment remains valid, but the parties are jointly and severally liable to a fine of EUR 3,000 to 18,000. A sale or rental advertisement must display the energy rating, and the fine for an advertisement without it is EUR 500 to 3,000. The certificate is valid for up to 10 years.

9What should be checked when buying a flat in a condominium?

Under Article 63, paragraph 4 of the implementing provisions of the Civil Code, whoever takes over the rights of a unit owner is jointly and severally liable with that owner for the condominium charges of the current year and the previous year. The seller remains liable until a certified copy of the deed is sent to the condominium administrator. Therefore, ask the administrator (amministratore) for:

• Confirmation of the payment status of the unit.
• Resolutions on extraordinary works that have been approved and their amount, and agree in the compromesso who pays.
• Information on pending legal proceedings of the condominium.
• The condominium rules, which may restrict uses such as short-term rental.

10Which restrictions and pre-emption rights may delay the transaction?

Landscape and conservation restrictions (vincoli): a property in a landscape-protected area or a cultural property, under the Cultural Heritage and Landscape Code (D.Lgs. 42/2004), requires additional approvals for any change, and regularising irregularities in it is harder.

The State's pre-emption right over cultural property: the seller notifies the Ministry of Culture of the transaction, and the State may buy at the same price within 60 days of receiving the notice, or 180 days if the notice was not given, was late or was incomplete (Article 61). Until the period ends, the deed is subject to a condition precedent and the seller may not hand over the property. Plan the payments and the taking of possession accordingly.

Agricultural pre-emption (prelazione agraria): on agricultural land, such as a country house with land, a farmer who leases and cultivates it, and in certain cases a neighbour who personally cultivates adjoining land, has a pre-emption right. They have 30 days from receiving notice, and if they did not receive proper notice they may be able to redeem the land from the buyer within one year of registration of the sale.

11Superbonus works were carried out in the building. What needs to be checked?

Superbonus works were carried out under a special route (CILAS, Article 119, paragraph 13-ter of Decree 34/2020) that did not require full certification of the stato legittimo, so a CILAS does not prove that the property is lawful. Missing or incorrect data may lead to loss of the benefit. Ask for the CILAS and the experts' certifications, check with the administrator whether there are open disputes, and set out in the deed what happens to the remaining deductions not yet used.

12Who does what: technician, notaio and lawyer

You can act through a notarial power of attorney from Israel, with an apostille and an Italian translation as required by the notaio. Transfer the funds from an account in your name and keep documentation. Reporting in Israel and the treaty for the avoidance of double taxation are explained in the separate guides.

13Checklist of documents to review

1. Before making an offer: ask for the visura, planimetria, deed of acquisition and APE.
2. Appoint a technician acting for you to inspect the municipal archive and carry out a survey.
3. Request a check of the registers going back 20 years.
4. Obtain a debt confirmation from the administrator.
5. Check restrictions and pre-emption rights.
6. Include conditions precedent in the compromesso: regularisation at the seller's expense, discharge of mortgages and refund of the deposit if the check fails.
7. Before the rogito: update the checks and make sure the Catasto has been updated.

14What to do before signing the compromesso, and how we accompany you

Most problems are not visible in the advertisement or on a viewing: a wall moved without a permit, an enclosed balcony or a debt to the condominium. They come to light when the registers, the Catasto and the municipal files are compared with what is on site, and this should happen before a deposit is paid. The local acts are performed by licensed notaries, lawyers and technicians in Italy. We coordinate the work from Israel, review the documents and the findings, and ask the questions an Israeli buyer should ask before committing.

Read next · 10 min readRenting Out Property in Italy as an Israeli Resident: Lease Types, Cedolare Secca, Short-Term Rentals and Tax in Both CountriesRenting out a flat in Italy as an Israeli: 4+4 and 3+2 leases, registration, the 21% and 10% cedolare secca, 2026 short-term rules, the CIN and Israeli tax.Read the guide