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Benna: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Biella, Piemonte. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Benna

The report looks at the exact point: landslide and flood risk, seismic zone, price per square metre for the area, services and nearby stops.

For example: Via Re Umberto I 1, Benna.

Benna, farmland on the plain south of Biella

Benna sits on the plain in the southern part of the Biella area, at around 280 metres, where the hills around Biella give way to fields and farmsteads running on towards the province of Vercelli. Biella itself is close, so the drive to work in town is short; the rest of the municipality is farmland, with the village grouped around its centre and a few scattered hamlets.

Compared with the rest of its province, Benna is young. The average age is 47.4 against 49.7 for the province of Biella, and 25.8% of residents are over 65 compared with 30.1%. Figures from Istat, the national statistics office, give 1,148 residents in 2023, down 3.5% since 2011, with foreign residents at 3.0%. Declared incomes are slightly below the provincial average.

The housing stock is mainly detached houses and small villas with gardens, alongside old farmsteads (cascine), some restored and some waiting for work. In a cascina, check the roof, timber floors and rising damp, which is common in walls on low ground. For newer houses the energy rating makes a real difference to heating bills in climate zone E.

Seismic hazard is low. Benna is in zone 4 on the Civil Protection Department scale, like 50 of the 74 municipalities in the province, with expected ground acceleration of 0.040 g.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps here, and the report finds the plot from the address. On the plain the thing to watch is watercourses: areas that may flood are shown on the official maps and checked for each address.

Key points

  • Farmland south-east of Biella, towards the Vercelli plain.
  • Average age 47.4, below the provincial 49.7.
  • Seismic zone 4, expected acceleration 0.040 g.
  • Farmsteads to restore and houses with gardens.

Overview

Benna is a municipality in the province of Biella, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 1,148 residents, ranked 35 of 74 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Benna is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. Most municipalities in the province (50 of 74) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.040 g, a low value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

In zone 4 the risk is low, but for an older building it is still worth asking about the state of the structure.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 3.5%. The estimated average age is 47 years, lower than the province average (50). 26% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 3.0% of the population. On average, a household has 2.3 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Benna declared an average taxable income of 23,789 euros, below the provincial average (25,111 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Benna is in climate zone E, with 2,665 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 15 October to 15 April, for up to 14 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 277 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Benna has 2 schools and 1 pharmacy. The Overture Maps data also lists 1 grocery shop, 1 healthcare facility and 1 green area.

There are 0.9 pharmacies per 1,000 residents, more than the province average (0.4).

Public transport

We do not yet have open public transport timetables for this municipality: the report says so explicitly, without inventing distances.

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 8.3% of the land in Benna, compared with 8.0% in the province and 6.7% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Benna is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Piemonte in 2023. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Official databases list no contaminated sites in Benna.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Benna: the report checks the address against the ISPRA maps.

House prices

The Revenue Agency's price ranges per square metre (OMI) apply to zones, not to whole municipalities: the report gives the range for the address's zone.

Land registry

The cadastral maps for Benna are public: from the address the report finds the sheet and parcel number.

Liveability area by area

The Vicinalia liveability index runs from 0 to 100 and looks at the place, not the people who live there: services within walking distance, transport, green space, natural hazards, air, quiet, buildings and connection. Here it is worked out at the centre of each of the 9 inhabited census areas in Benna. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 57 or more.

Residents by band

  • modest 2.1%
  • fair 97.9%

Vicinalia index by census area, licence CC BY-SA 4.0. Data: IdroGEO ISPRA (2026), Istat, INGV, EEA, AGCOM, Overture Maps and OpenStreetMap.

The colour is the value at the centre of the area. For an exact address, search for it above: the free check looks at that exact point. How the index is worked out

Data sources

ISTAT code 096003. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.