RENTING A HOUSE AND LIVING IN MILAN
Just arrived? Looking for a flat or a house to rent in Milan, and generally speaking in Italy? Here you'll find all what you have to know!
THE AGENCY
In Italy, especially in big towns like Rome or Milan, the housing market is almost totally in the hands of real estate agencies. This happens because they can take care of all the procedure of selling and/or renting a property, including the various steps of bureaucracy (the contacts with the owner/lodger, the visits, the offer, the contract, the land registry registration of the rental contract, etc.).
A person wanting to sell or to lease a property by himself/herself, especially if he/she works all day, would have to waste a lot of time while dealing with these kind of matters; therefore almost everybody usually asks one or more agents to handle everything. Even when a house seems to be advertised online by a private person, when you call you discover that it is an agency.
Since the offers of the housing market change quickly, real estate agencies do not update very often their adv entries on the various websites, so you may see something online that is not available anymore when you call.
Renting through an agency means to pay the agency’s fee, which is usually between 10% and 15% of the annual value of the contract (usually the annual value in this case does not include condo fees) + VAT 22%.
The % depends on the agency and on the characteristics of the flat/house. If it is a highly requested property due to its internal or external characteristics, its position, any recent renovation works, etc., the percentage may rise to 15% or even more. Some other agencies ask as a commission a sum equivalent to 1 or 2 month installment/s, whichever is the amount of it, also in this case + VAT 22%.
The agency’s fee is paid only once, usually at the signing of the contract or immediatley after, via bank transfer. You will receive a regular invoice for the payment of the agency's fee.
Depending on the kind of agreement the agent has with the owner of the flat, the agent may also remain your main referent in case you have any kind of issue with the property, while living in it.
THE OFFER
When you are interested in a flat/house, you can place an offer on it through the agent, who will let the owner have your offer. The offer is usually valid for no more than 2 weeks (unless differently agreed by both the owner and the interested party), so the owner has to give an answer within that time. How it works:
- You decide the amount you want to offer for the monthly fee. This amount can be slightly lower than the advertised/proposed price, but it should be in line with the average value of the property and similar properties in the same area. If the offer is too low you will face a sure reject. The offer only refers to the rent, since the condominium fees, if property is inside a block of flats, are fixed and cannot be changed by the owner of the flat or by you.
- The agent fill in a document – a standard one as per Italian civic laws and regulations – which includes all your data, the ones of the owner, the characteristics of the flat/house, the condition of the flat/house, your offer for the monthly rent, the amount of the condo fees, the characteristics of the contract, the amount of the security deposit (usually 3 months’ installments), the duration of the proposal, the amount of the agent’s fee, and a few other legal notices.
- You sign the document adding a 1 month’s installment (equivalent to your offer) via bank check or cash; check is always preferred, if offering cash, a receipt must be requested to the agent. By the way, not all agencies accept cash due to the recent Italian anti-money laundering regulations. If you are buying - not renting - a flat/house, the value of the check must be much higher then a single month installment.
- The owner may accept or refuse the offer. If the offer is accepted, the owner will keep the money which will be the 1st monthly installment and a contract has to be signed within 1 month. The sooner the better for you, since you are already paying.
THE CONTRACT
A rental contract is quite different from a contract used to buy a flat/house. Let’s focus here on the rental contract. The contract will contain again all the main points of the offer and will be more specific on several points regarding i.e. payments and maintenance of the property.
Regarding Italian terminology, in the contract the owner will be referred to as the “Locatore” while you will be referred to as the “Conduttore” (tenant or lodger).
Rental contract must be registered to the local tax authority within 1 month from the signing. Usually the agent or the owner takes care of the registration and you will receive a copy of the registration’s act/receipt.
The duration of the contract depends on the type of rental contract. The majority of owners chooses the “Cedolare Secca 4+4” kind of contract because they will pay less taxes on it. Furthermore, the “Cedolare Secca” contract has no registration’s fee, both on the side of the landlord and the lodger.
This contract, on a regular basis, lasts 4 years and can be renewed for other 4 years (that’s why 4+4). During the first 4 years the monthly installment will always stay the same, so - notwithstanding the possible influence of the national inflation index - there won’t be any CPI adjustment during the first 4 years.
Even if the duration is 4+4 both the owner, for seriously valid reasons (i.e if he/she needs the property for himself/herself or for the family) and the lodger can terminate the contract, with - at least - a 3 months’ notice sent to the owner via registered mail. The contract is automatically renewed in the absence of written notice of termination, received at least 3 months prior to the expiration.
There is also another kind of contract whose duration is usually 3 years. The owner choses this kind of contract, which has registration fees to be paid both by the owner and the lodger, if he/she wants to deduct a % of the annual value of the contract from his/her annual income declaration (with “Cedolare Secca” contract the owner pay less taxes but cannot deduct anything). This kind of contract is also sometimes preferred if the renting part is a company and not a person.
Whichever is the type of contract, at the signing of it the standard request is that you pay a 3 months’ security deposit and 1 up to 3 months’ installments in advance. The security deposit cannot be used to cover possible rent dues, unless otherwise agreed in the contract.
You will be given back the entire deposit at the end of the lease, after an inspection of the flat/house, unless the landlord claims a payment for damages to the property caused by you.
CONDOMINIUM FEES AND HOUSEHOLD UTILITIES
If the property you would like to rent is inside a block of flats, small or large, you will have to pay condo fees.
These expenses usually include: consierge (if there is one), building ordinary maintenance, common parts electricity, garden maintenance (if there is one), cleaning of all the common areas including stairs, heating (if the building has a centralized heating system), cold water.
In new buildings, in villas or terraced houses/group of houses, the condo fees may include also cooling and, partially, electricity. Anyway, everything is always specified in the contract.
Usually, you have to register on your own name the contract for domestic utilities such as electricity, gas (for hot water and kitchen) and the Internet connection, unless differently specified in the rental contract or by the owner.
Normally, during a year, you will receive 6 bills for electricity (one every 2 months) and 4 for gas (one every 3 months), but it also depends on the chosen supplier (there are many); average costs mainly depends on the consumption, apart from a fixed fee. Internet connection is paid monthly. Main suppliers are: Fastweb, Vodafone, TIM, etc.
You always have to terminate the utilities’ contracts when leaving the flat/house (unless differently agreed with the owner/agent).
THE INSURANCE
The house insurance is sometimes a mandatory requirement included in rental contracts. The owner of the property may add a specific point into the contract stating that he/she requires proof of the existence of an insurance even before handing over the property or within the first month of rent. Sometimes the request is not in the contract, but it is verbally asked.
Whichever is the way in which you are requested for it, issuing a basic insurance policy it’s a good idea to protect your belongings, since the owner will not be responsible for any damage incidentally occurred or in case of theft.
The rate charged by insurance providers is usually about 200 up to 400 Euro per year or more, depending on the features of your house and what you want to protect.
Household insurance policies are offered by several national and international companies in Italy. Very often you can apply online, customizing your policy (i.e. Zurich Connect, Aviva, etc.).
The suggestion is to have a good cover for damages in case of fire, water leaks, theft and third part liability.
By the way, a policy covering theft perils or damages usually requires a certain number of safety measures existing in the house, e.g., an alarm system, a security door and proper locks on windows and shutters as well as all other possible openings.
MAINTENANCE
Renting a flat and living in it in Italy it’s not like living in a long formula residence or an Airbnb solution, where, for instance, you can have the change of the bedroom’s sheets, the bathroom’s towels or you can have any kitchen's piece of furniture or electronic device immediately repaired/changed by the property.
Usually in the rental contract there is a specific point dedicated to maintenance. This point usually refers to the Italian Civil Code and the current or updated regulations at this regard.
The general rule applied to maintenance and repairs is:
- The tenant is responsible for ordinary maintenance. For instance: the fridge is in fairly good condition when you start living in the house and after a few months it has a slight problem, you should take care of it and pay for the repairs. There is a minor leak from the siphon of the bathroom’s basin, you call and pay the plumber.
- The landlord is responsible for extraordinary maintenance. For instance: there is a serious water leak in the flat/house which is not due to the usage, but it is related to condominium pipes or to the “age” of the pipes inside the flat/house. The owner will take care of it and pay for the repair.
This is the general rule, but it also depends on the owner, who may also be willing to take care even of minor issues in the flat/house.
A good idea is always to let the owner be aware of any problems in the flat/house. Sometimes the real estate agent may also remain your referent in case you should face any kind of problem inside the flat/house.
TARI TAX (garbage tax)
This is a tax on garbage collection and recycling, which has to be paid to the tax registry by all homeowners or tenants/lodgers (if the flat is rented), without exception.
It is the person/family living in the flat, actually “using” the flat and producing garbage, that has to pay the garbage tax.
The tax is made up of two parts, one fixed based on the sqm of the flat/house, and one variable based on the number of persons resident in the property; each Italian region may also apply some extra factors to this calculation.
The registration with the local tax registry of the town of residence has to be done within 90 days from the signing of the contract (the sooner, the better) and can be done via email, attaching:
- a form that needs to be filled in with all your data, those of your family (if any member of your family lives with you) and the land registry’s details of the house (that you can find on the contract),
- copies of your documents: permit of stay or postal receipts of the application (for extra-EU citizens), passport, Italian fiscal code, Italian ID card (if you already have it),
- copy of the registered rental contract,
- copy of the residence application receipt (while waiting for the residence procedure to be terminated).
A few months after the application, you will receive a bill via email or via registered post at your residence address. The amount of the bill can be paid altogether or in 4 installments (also via bank transfer or online bullettin).
RESIDENCE APPLICATION
Applying for the residence is fundamental for almost anything related to bureaucracy in Italy and it is compulsory within 90 days from the signing of the rental contract.
Due to the fact that almost all the big towns in Italy are overflooded by residence requests by immigrants and refugees of many different nationalities, the residence procedure may take a while to be closed, even up to 9/10 months (in 2018/2019 this was the expected time for the fulfillment of the procedure).
The sooner you apply, the better it is, and the receipts of the residence application can be legally used to prove that you applied for the residence and for many different bureaucratic reasons, for instance to apply for the health insurance cards and the family doctor.
The local municipality of Milan has recently updated the way to be used to apply for the residence. It is possible to apply directly online, after registering to the website of the Municipality of Milan. Up to today date, some texts are still partially written in Italian.
What is needed:
- the filling of the residence application form with:
- all your personal data and the ones of the other members of the family transferring the residence with you;
- copy of your documents and those of all the members of the family: permit of stay or postal receipts of the application (for extra-EU citizens), passport, Italian fiscal code, Italian ID card (if you already have it).
- copy of the registered rental contract,
- for dependant workers or self-employed professionals supporting the family, copy of the work contract or any other document proving the fact that the person applying for the residence actually works in Italy and can financially support the family,
- copy of the translated and legalized documents stating the status of your family (i.e. the marriage certificate and the birth certificate of any son or daughter that will also transfer the residence with you).