What can be built on a plot in Italy: the municipal plan

The municipality's land use plan decides. Italians still call it the piano regolatore (town plan); in Lombardy it is the PGT, in Veneto the operational plan (piano degli interventi, PI) and in Piedmont the PRGC. The plan divides the municipality into zones and sets what can be done in each and how much. For a specific plot the binding document is the planning use certificate (certificato di destinazione urbanistica), which you request from the municipality with the sheet and parcel numbers.

Where to read the plan

The plan is public. Italy's transparency law requires municipalities to publish their planning instruments and amendments on their website, and they have no effect until they are published (D.Lgs. 33/2013, article 39). You will usually find them under "Amministrazione trasparente", in the section on land planning, or on the planning office's pages.

You need two things. The map (tavola) shows the zones in colour; the implementation rules (norme tecniche di attuazione) set, zone by zone, the building index, heights, distances and permitted uses. The map alone only tells you which zone you are in. Some Regions put the maps of all their municipalities together: in Lombardy every PGT can be viewed online on the Region's geoportal, and Veneto, the Province of Bolzano and the Metropolitan City of Turin do the same (how we use them).

Zones A, B, C, D, E and F

The letters come from a 1968 decree, DM 2 aprile 1968, n. 1444, which divided land into six homogeneous zones (zone territoriali omogenee) and set limits for each that no plan may exceed.

Zone B is usually a plot in town. Under the decree an area counts as partly built up, and so as B, when buildings cover at least one eighth (12.5%) of the land and the density exceeds 1.5 cubic metres per square metre; below those thresholds it is zone C. In practice you can nearly always build or rebuild in zone B, but volumes and heights are set by the plan's rules, and the free plots left are often small.

Zone E is the one that most often disappoints people who buy a field hoping to build a house. The decree allows homes a maximum of 0.03 cubic metres per square metre: on one hectare that is 300 cubic metres, and regional laws usually reserve even that for farmers. Zone by zone, with the decree's limits: Planning zones A, B, C, D, E and F explained.

Not every plan still uses the letters. Many Lombardy PGTs talk about the consolidated urban fabric, transformation areas and agricultural areas, and Turin's plans have codes of their own. The 1968 limits remain the reference, except where a Region has introduced exceptions by its own law (DPR 380/2001, article 2-bis).

Restrictions on top of the plan

A plot zoned for building can still be blocked by a restriction that the plan does not show, or shows on another map. The most common:

• landscape: within 300 metres of the coast, 150 metres of listed rivers and streams, in woodland and in areas declared of notable public interest, building needs a landscape authorisation (D.Lgs. 42/2004, articles 136 and 142); this is the landscape restriction (vincolo paesaggistico);
• buffer zones along roads and railways and around cemeteries, sewage plants and public water wells, where building is banned or limited;
• burnt areas: on woodland and pasture hit by fire nothing can be built for ten years, the designated use cannot change for fifteen, and the deed of sale must mention it or it is void (law 353/2000, article 10);
• landslides and floods: in high hazard areas of the river basin authorities' plans (PAI) the rules limit or ban new buildings.

The municipal certificate lists many of these restrictions, though not always all of them: for landscape the definitive answer comes from the Soprintendenza (the Ministry of Culture's local office), for fires from the municipal register of burnt areas.

What the report tells you

Find the land by sheet and parcel or by coordinates. Straight away, free of charge, you see the land summary: area, slope, elevation and what is around it. In the full report, choosing "A plot of land":

• in Lombardy, Veneto, the Province of Bolzano and the Metropolitan City of Turin, what the municipal plan provides for the parcel, with the share of the parcel in each area: built-up area, transformation area, agricultural area, area for public facilities, in Veneto the zone from A to F, in Turin the plan's own code, plus the historic centre and, in Lombardy, buffer zones and geological feasibility (Municipal plans);
• across Italy, the Ministry of Culture's landscape restrictions and the burnt areas seen by the European satellite service, with the year of the fire (Landscape, wildfires and noise), as well as landslides, flooding, parks and Natura 2000 sites;
• the questions to ask the municipality, the seller and the notary, starting with the planning use certificate.

In the other regions the plan section is not there, because none publishes an open, up-to-date mosaic of its municipalities' plans: there the report prepares the question and the certificate gives the answer. The landscape map has gaps too (Valle d'Aosta, Trentino-Alto Adige, Marche, Molise and Sicily), and where it is missing the report says so. Everything the report says about land is on Check land in Italy before you buy it.

The planning use certificate

Anyone can request it, not only the owner. The application goes to the municipality's planning office, often online, with the sheet and parcel numbers; some municipalities also want a recent extract of the cadastral map. The municipality has 30 days to issue it and it is valid for one year, as long as the plan does not change in the meantime (DPR 380/2001, article 30). The cost is stamp duty plus administrative fees set by each municipality: in Milan 100 euros plus two 16-euro revenue stamps, in Rimini 60 euros for up to ten parcels plus stamps.

To sell land it must be attached to the deed, or the deed is void. It is not needed for the garden or yard of a building recorded in the land registry, as long as the total stays under 5,000 square metres. A buyer does well to ask for it before the preliminary contract: that is where "building land" turns into a number. The checks that follow, from the neighbours' right of first refusal to access, are in the guide What to check before buying land in Italy.

Frequently asked questions

Can agricultural land become building land?

Only if the municipality changes the plan, through an amendment (variante) or a new plan, and nobody can promise that in advance. A listing that mentions land "with building potential" should be read next to the certificate: if the certificate says agricultural zone, today it is agricultural. How to check, step by step: Agricultural or building land: how to check.

What is the difference between zone B and zone C?

Zone B is already built up and the plan fills it in; zone C is where the plan provides for new neighbourhoods. In zone C a detailed plan is often needed first, with roads, parking and green space handed over to the municipality, and only then can a building permit be requested.

Does the report replace the planning use certificate?

No. The report summarises the maps published by Regions and Provinces and compares them with the parcel; the precise rules and the legal value remain in the municipal plan and in the certificate.

Do I need the certificate for a house?

Not to sell a house with a yard under 5,000 square metres. It is worth requesting if you plan to extend it, change its use or build in the garden.