How to let out a home without missing a step.
Letting for the first time means discovering twenty requirements one at a time, almost always in the wrong order. Affittizen Start lines them up for your property and walks you to the signature.
Affittizen provides information and organisational tools, not legal or tax advice. Requirements vary by municipality, region and contract type: always check with a professional before signing or filing anything.
Why it is harder than it looks
Sources contradict each other
Forums, blogs and relatives give different answers, often predating a reform. What was true two years ago may not be now.
It depends where you are
Local agreements, certain notifications and some restrictions change from one municipality to the next. A national guide is not enough.
It depends who you are
Which tax treatment suits you depends on your overall income, not on the property. No guide can decide that for you.
Order matters
Some documents are needed before signing, others within thirty days after. Doing them in the wrong order costs time and sometimes money.
How it works
01 Describe the property
Address, type, condition and who you would like to let it to. A few minutes.
02 Get your checklist
Not a generic article: the steps that apply to your property, in order, with what each one needs.
03 Gather the documents
Each item says what to obtain and who to ask. You upload them as they arrive and they stay attached to the property.
04 Decide with a professional
Where the answer depends on your case, we put you in touch with an accountant or a lawyer.
05 Arrive ready to sign
Contract chosen, documents in hand, deadlines in the calendar.
06 Move into management
The property is already in Affittizen: when the tenant moves in, the tenancy carries on from there.
What is on the checklist
These are the steps a residential landlord meets in Italy. Your list will be a subset of them, ordered and adapted to your property: not every item applies to everyone.
Affittizen provides information and organisational tools, not legal or tax advice. Requirements vary by municipality, region and contract type: always check with a professional before signing or filing anything.
The property
Before any contract, the property itself has to be compliant and documented. This is the part first-time landlords discover last, usually when it is already urgent.
Energy performance certificate (APE)
Obtained from a qualified assessor and attached to the contract. Without it the tenancy starts out non-compliant.
Systems compliance
Documentation for the electrical, gas and heating systems, plus a boiler logbook with servicing up to date.
Land registry data and conformity
Up-to-date registry extract and floor plan: these details go into the contract and the filing, and must match the property as it actually is.
Habitability and planning status
Confirming the property can lawfully be lived in and that there are no outstanding planning irregularities.
Building rules
Some building rules restrict use or have to be handed to the tenant. Worth reading before the first complaint, not after.
The contract
The contract type decides duration, notice, the rent ceiling and the tax treatment. It is a choice, not a form: changing it later means starting over.
Choosing the contract type
Free-market (4+4), agreed-rent (3+2), short-term or student: each changes duration, notice, rent and tax.
Agreed-rent certification
If you choose agreed rent, the ceiling comes from your municipality’s local agreement and a certificate is required.
Deposit and guarantees
Amount, how it is returned and any interest, written down together with any guarantees.
Clauses and attachments
Who pays what, pets, subletting, routine repairs: whatever is not written down becomes an argument.
The tax treatment
How the rent is taxed is the decision with the biggest financial impact, and it depends on your personal situation. Affittizen does not answer this for you: it takes you to someone who can.
Flat-rate or ordinary taxation
The choice affects income tax, registration and stamp duty, and whether the rent can be indexed. It depends on your overall income.
Registration and stamp duty
Due or not depending on the regime you choose, and paid at the point of registration.
Effects on property tax and your return
Letting changes how the property appears in your tax return and, in some cases, the rate that applies.
Filing and handover
The last steps are the ones with real deadlines. Skipping them or filing late has concrete consequences.
Registering the contract
The contract is registered with the Italian revenue agency, using the prescribed form and the details of the property and the parties.
Required notifications
Depending on the case, notifications to the public security authority and to the building manager may be required.
Handover report
Condition of the property, meter readings, keys handed over and photos. This is the evidence you need at move-out.
Utilities transfer
Whose name the utilities are in, opening readings and who pays what, written down.
Where we hand you to a professional
Some questions software should not answer. Whether the flat-rate regime suits you depends on your total income; planning conformity needs a surveyor who looks at the paperwork; a doubtful clause needs a lawyer. In those cases Affittizen does not guess: it assembles the picture and connects you to someone who can decide, carrying across the details you already entered.
Accountants and tax advisers
Tax treatment, duties payable, effects on your return.
Surveyors and assessors
Energy certificate, systems compliance, floor plans and planning status.
Lawyers
Unusual clauses, building disputes, non-standard situations.
Landlord associations
Agreed-rent certification where it applies.
And then?
When the journey closes, the property is not a document in a folder: it is already a record inside Affittizen, with its attachments and its deadlines. From there you find the tenant, open the tenancy and run it — without re-entering anything.
See what happens nextLet’s start with your property.
Tell us about it and we prepare your checklist. Early access is free and needs no card.