The report for buying land

When you create the report choose "A plot of land". It is the same report, at the same price, arranged for someone buying a field, a vineyard, a wood or a plot to build on: the land first, then the risks and restrictions, then the questions to ask the municipality, the seller and the notary. At the end, as background, the surrounding area for whoever will live there.

See a real example: the report on a publicly owned poplar grove by the river Po, put up for sale by a local council.

How to find the land

• By sheet and parcel. The foglio and particella numbers are written on the land registry record, on the preliminary contract and often in the listing. Choose the municipality and enter the sheet and parcel numbers.
• By coordinates. On Google Maps press and hold on the land: two numbers appear at the top, for example 44.2221, 12.0411. Paste them into the coordinates field and the site takes the parcel under that spot.

Before the report we show you the parcel on the cadastral map, so you can check it is the right one. If it is large and has no buildings, the site already suggests "A plot of land".

What it says about the land

• Area as drawn on the cadastral map, in square metres or hectares.
• Slope, aspect and elevation: whether it is flat or on a hillside, whether it faces south or north, how high above sea level, from the INGV TINITALY terrain model.
• Whether it is farmed or idle: the European Sentinel-2 satellite looks at the greenery twelve times a year, and a cultivated field has a clear seasonal cycle; it is measured on land over 2,000 square metres (how).
• What is around it: countryside, woodland or built-up area from the European CORINE map, and how much land is already covered in the area.
• What is built on it: sheds and farm buildings that open maps draw on the parcel, with their footprint in square metres.

Risks and restrictions

• Landslides and floods from the ISPRA national maps, with a map of the risk areas around the parcel when there are any (the sources).
• Earthquakes: seismic zone, expected ground acceleration and, where the municipality has the study, how the ground amplifies shaking. Also the slow ground movements measured by satellite.
• Land burnt by wildfires: on burnt land nothing can be built for ten years and its use cannot change for fifteen (legge 353/2000), and the deed must mention the restriction (the sources).
• Landscape restrictions, parks and Natura 2000 sites, contaminated sites in the municipality and large industrial plants nearby.

The questions to ask before the deed

In a land report the buyer's guide has the questions for land, and the first one is for the municipality:

• the municipality: the certificato di destinazione urbanistica, which says whether the land is agricultural or building land and with what limits; hydrogeological and landscape restrictions; civic use rights;
• the seller: the land registry record for the land, who farms it today (even under a verbal agreement), water for irrigation;
• the notary: access from the road and easements, the agricultural right of first refusal of tenants and neighbours;
• your own professional: the boundaries on the ground and any structures to be regularised.

Each question says why you are asking, with the law or the report data it comes from. The full list, with the steps in order, is in the guide What to check before buying land in Italy.

What is still to ask

• Whether the land can be built on, and how much, is stated in the municipality's planning use certificate: the report prepares the question, the certificate gives the answer.
• The area prices in the report are those for homes. For land what counts is what can be done with it, access and water: for its value you need similar sales or a valuer.
• The boundaries come from the drawing on the cadastral map, accurate to within a few metres: where they run on the ground is shown by a survey.

How much it costs

A land report costs the same as one for a home: prices and plans.