sabato 25 ottobre 2008

Living in Italy: simple rules, regulations and advises.... (part 2)



Housing

Housing is definitely one of the major and initial problems a foreigner encounters in Italy. In the recent years, to find a house for rent has become a tug-of-war, not only because of the increase in demand but also for the exaggerated prices demanded by the landlords, which becomes even more if the apartment passes through an agency. The agencies normally charges more or less an equivalent of one month of the rent for their commission.
It is, however, advisable for anyone working regularly, that is with “busta paga”, to verify with his Bank or with a trustworthy financial Agency to know if he is ripe or entitled to purchase a house of his own. It is always better to purchase a house, hence the difference to pay for the mortgage is just a little higher than the normal amount for rent. Certainly, one has to be well informed about the tax-rate and if the rate is variable or constant through the years of the mortgage.
For a house on rent: it is very vital that there is a valid contract between the two parties. One has to go through the contract carefully to make sure that the stipulated points are in harmony with the official regulations and that it is not particularly penalizing to him. Another important issue is to make sure that the contract is registered with the authorities (“Agenzie delle entrate” - the same as - “Guardia di Finanza”), and the fee for the registration is normally divided in two equal parts. Such contract, which should be for four years, is also to be registered every year. A registered contract enables one to make up his necessary documents, for example; resident permit; family reunion, etc. and could also be necessary for an eventual remboursement of some part of the rent from the local council.
Legally, it is forbidden to sub-rent a house, even though any landlord knows how impossible it is for only one person to pay entirely for the rent, and so, the presence of another person has always been tolerated by the landlords, as long as there is peace in the house.
It is also very important to register any visitor or another person sharing the house together, whose name is not in the contract, with the Police within 5 days of arrival and obtain the so-called “cessione fabbricato”, failure to do so is against the law. In some houses (condominial), some amenities (lift, heating, etc.) are used in common with the others and so the fees are also shared among all, normally according to the sizes of the apartments.

To be continued.......

Blessing Sunday Osuchukwu

PS: è una post per sensibilizzare la mia gente ed altri stranieri, quindi chiedo umilmente scusa ai miei amici che non capiscono l'inglese.

5 commenti:

Gianna ha detto...

Buona domenica,caro blessi.

Anonimo ha detto...

"...E' prigione conoscere una sola lingua" ;))...ciao e buona domenica fratello.

Aliza ha detto...

anch'io conosco poco l'inglese, e mi dispiace, ma apprezzo quello che fai per gli stranieri. Penso sia un aiuto molto pratico, perciò utile.
Spero tu abbia passato una buona domenica, un saluto A.

Anonimo ha detto...

A good post! Nothing to add!

Bye Blessing
Daniele

Silvia ha detto...

E' un post importantissimo e tu facendolo rendi un grande servizio a chi dovesse aver bisogno di tali informazioni!

;-)