Decreto Salva Casa 2024: Impact on Italian properties market

Law 105/2024, which converts Decree-Law 69/2024 — commonly referred to as the 2024 “Decreto Casa” — introduces significant simplification measures aimed at facilitating the regularization of “minor construction deviations” and unauthorized interventions. This legislation is designed to streamline bureaucratic procedures, reducing the complexity of the regularization process and providing greater legal certainty for property owners. By addressing long-standing administrative hurdles, it helps ensure compliance while alleviating the burdens faced by individuals seeking to resolve construction irregularities.

Decreto Casa 2024: Types of regularizable irregularities

The 2024 “Decreto Casa” permits the regularization of three main categories of construction irregularities, offering a framework for addressing and resolving previously unregulated building practices. This new decree aims to simplify the process for property owners and ensure compliance with current urban planning regulations:

Formal irregularities
These issues arise primarily from interpretative uncertainties within the current regulations, particularly regarding the procedures and criteria for demonstrating the legitimate status of the property. This has often led to confusion and inconsistencies in the application of the rules, complicating the process for property owners.

Internal construction irregularities (constructive tolerances)
These are interventions carried out without formal authorization, which are often challenging to regularize due to the complexity involved in demonstrating the legitimate status of the property. The lack of clear documentation or misunderstandings related to regulatory requirements frequently hinders the ability of property owners to resolve such issues efficiently.

Partial irregularities and essential variations
These could not be regularized in the past due to the principle of “double conformity”, which required that both the original construction and the current state of the property comply with the regulations in force at the time of construction and at the time of the regularization request. This stringent requirement made it nearly impossible to legalize certain unauthorized interventions, even if they adhered to present-day regulations

Decreto Salva Casa 2024 Download

Amendments to the Consolidated Text on Construction

The amendments introduced to Presidential Decree 380/2001 address various crucial aspects, including:

Free construction
Legitimate status of properties
Change of use
Verification of compliance
Parameterization of constructive tolerances
Regularization of non-compliant variations
Penalties for interventions in partial deviation
Recovery of attics
Habitability and usability

Free Construction: Innovations and Simplifications

One of the most significant innovations introduced by the decree concerns “free construction”, with amendments to Article 6, paragraph 1, of Presidential Decree 380/2001. Specifically, it allows for the installation of removable panoramic glazing (VePA) to enclose loggias and covered porticoes, provided they do not face public areas or areas subject to public use rights, for which a permit remains necessary. Additionally, sun and weather protection structures, such as awnings and bioclimatic pergolas, are permitted, as long as they do not create permanent enclosed spaces and aesthetically integrate with the building’s design. These provisions simplify the execution of interventions that do not require building permits, promoting greater efficiency, flexibility, and faster processes for property owners.

Change of use

The decree simplifies the process for changing the use of real estate units, especially in urban areas. The change of use is allowed in the following cases:

Within the same functional category, such as transitioning from residential to tourist-accommodation purposes.
Between homogeneous categories, as typically seen in zones A, B, and C.

Additionally, there is no requirement to secure new areas for services or parking, except in cases explicitly mandated by regional laws. This measure streamlines urban property management, reducing bureaucratic obstacles and encouraging more flexible use of spaces in accordance with current needs.

Simplified double conformity

The decree introduces a significant simplification of the principle of double conformity, allowing for the regularization of interventions with partial deviations or essential variations without requiring simultaneous compliance with both the urban and building regulations at the time of execution and regularization. Under the new provisions, an intervention can now be regularized if it conforms to:

The urban planning regulations in force at the time of the application.
The building regulations in force at the time of the intervention.

This change reduces the complexity of the regularization process, providing more flexibility for property owners to address past construction deviations while ensuring alignment with current urban planning frameworks.

Sanctions and constructive tolerances

The decree also revises the sanctions system for building irregularities and updates the methods for calculating constructive tolerances. Under the new rules, minimal deviations from construction parameters are not considered violations as long as they fall within specific percentage limits, which are now calculated based on the usable area of the property. The updated tolerance thresholds are as follows:

Percentage	Size of the properties
2%	Larger than 500 square meters
3%	Between 300 and 500 square meters
4%	Between 100 and 300 square meters
5%	Smaller than 100 square meters
6%	Smaller than 60 square meters

This reconfiguration introduces greater flexibility, especially benefiting smaller properties, by allowing for minor deviations without penalty, thereby simplifying compliance with construction regulations.

Attic recovery

Another important innovation introduced by the decree is the promotion of attic recovery, designed to increase housing supply without the need for additional land consumption. This type of intervention is allowed under the following conditions, as the distances established at the time of the original construction are respected, the shape and area of the attic remain unchanged, and the height of the building continues to comply with the original parameters.

By facilitating the recovery and repurposing of attics, the decree encourages more efficient use of existing urban spaces, helping to meet housing needs while preserving the integrity of the built environment.

Habitability and usability: new rules

The amendments introduced by the decree also update the requirements for habitability and usability, offering more flexible conditions. Key changes include:

The reduction of the minimum room height to 2.40 meters, providing more leeway for buildings with lower ceilings.
The recognition of single-room accommodations with a minimum area of 20 square meters for one person, allowing for more compact living spaces to be considered habitable.

These updates reflect a more adaptable approach to urban living standards, accommodating modern housing needs while maintaining essential living conditions.

Conclusions

The 2024 “Decreto Casa” marks a major step forward in simplifying construction and urban planning procedures. The introduced amendments are designed to cut through bureaucracy, making it easier to regularize building irregularities and encouraging interventions aimed at housing recovery. Additionally, these measures offer greater legal certainty for property owners, streamlining the process of bringing buildings up to code and promoting a more efficient and flexible regulatory environment for property management and development.

The new Italian Decree-Law has opened new opportunities for foreign investors interested in purchasing old properties in Italy to renovate them, either for residential or commercial purposes. Starting today, it will be possible to intervene more freely on historic villas or rural properties to modernize them and make these investments more profitable.

If you are interested in exploring this aspect and learning about all the investment opportunities, do not hesitate to contact us right away!