Building & renovating property in Italy

Independent advice for navigating the Italian system with confidence

Building or renovating property in Italy is an enduring aspiration for many overseas buyers — whether restoring a historic home, adapting a rural property, or creating a long-term base in a distinctive setting. What often proves challenging is not the vision for the home, but understanding how Italian planning controls, technical approvals, and professional responsibilities operate in practice — particularly where expectations are shaped by systems elsewhere.

Habitar supports clients in Italy by providing independent, client-side guidance, helping ensure decisions are made with clarity rather than assumption.

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Why Italy can feel difficult to navigate

In Italy, complexity often arises from layered regulation and local interpretation.

Projects can become uncertain when:

planning constraints are identified late in the process
heritage or landscape protections apply unexpectedly
national rules are interpreted differently at municipal level
professional roles and responsibilities are not clearly understood
approvals and technical sign-off are assumed to follow a single route

Italian processes are structured, formal, and highly localised.
Understanding how national frameworks are applied in practice at municipal level is often the key challenge for overseas clients.

How the Italian system works in practice

Most building and renovation projects in Italy involve engagement with the local municipality, even where changes appear modest.

Depending on the scope and location of the works, this may involve:

a certified notice of commencement (CILA)
a more formal building notice (SCIA)
a full planning permission where major works or protected contexts apply

In addition, Italian law defines specific professional roles tied to design responsibility, regulatory compliance, and construction oversight, often supported by multiple technical submissions.

For overseas clients, the challenge is not understanding every regulation in detail.
It is knowing which route applies, how local interpretation affects the process, and when decisions carry particular weight.

How Habitar supports projects in Italy

Habitar supports overseas clients by providing independent, client-side guidance tailored to the Italian planning and professional context.

We help clients understand which approvals are likely to apply, how professional roles are structured, and where particular care is needed when shaping proposals — working alongside appointed Italian professionals rather than replacing them.

Support commonly includes:

early clarity around planning, heritage, and landscape constraints
guidance on appointing appropriate local architects and consultants
support in understanding proposed designs, roles, and responsibilities
advice on sequencing approvals, technical submissions, and delivery pathways
later-stage guidance around completion, certification, and handover

Our involvement is always proportionate and advisory, focused on decision-making rather than site management, and providing continuity across what can otherwise be a fragmented process.

Support across the project journey

In Italy, Habitar’s involvement typically aligns with key decision points across the project — from early feasibility and brief development, through professional appointment and design progression, to later-stage reassurance as approvals and construction advance.

Clients may engage Habitar for early guidance only, or continue through later stages where ongoing continuity and independent judgement are valuable.

Our role remains client-side throughout, providing clarity and perspective as the project evolves.

Is this right for your project in Italy?

Habitar is particularly well suited to:

overseas buyers and second-home owners
renovation, restoration, and replacement projects
clients unfamiliar with Italian planning and professional systems
projects where early clarity materially reduces risk

Engagement begins with a conversation to establish whether independent, client-side support would add value to your project.