Contratto di locazione
Rental contractRead this before you signAn Italian rental contract has to be registered with the Agenzia delle Entrate — the registrazione. An unregistered one has no standing in law. Only a registered contract will do for your permesso di soggiorno, your residenza, or a student aid application.
Step by step
- 1
Know which contract you are being offered
4+4 (contratto libero): 4 years plus an automatic 4-year renewal, with the rent set freely. 3+2 (concordato): the rent is capped by the local agreement, usually cheaper, and the landlord pays less tax on it. Student contract (contratto per studenti universitari): 6 months to 3 years, written for university students. Transitorio: 1–18 months, and it must state the temporary reason for it.
Milan counts as a city under housing pressure, which makes a 3+2 the better deal for both sides — worth raising with the landlord yourself.
- 2
Check the clauses that matter
The deposit (deposito cauzionale) is capped by law at 3 months’ rent and must earn statutory interest. Settle who pays the building charges (spese condominiali), how the heating is split, and whether you are allowed to register your residenza there.
Get permission to register your residenza written into the contract — a great many later steps jam up exactly here.
- 3
Sign, then ask for the registration receipt
The landlord registers the contract with the Agenzia delle Entrate within 30 days and gets a ricevuta di registrazione. Ask for a copy rather than waiting to be offered one — it is among the most important papers you will hold.
- 4
The landlord has to declare that they are hosting you
Within 48 hours of taking in a non-EU citizen, the landlord — or anyone else providing accommodation — must file a dichiarazione di ospitalità / cessione di fabbricato with the police. That declaration doubles as your proof of accommodation for the permesso di soggiorno.
- 5
Photograph everything on move-in day
On the day you move in, photograph every room, every mark and crack that is already there, and the readings on the water, electricity and gas meters. Email the lot to the landlord so the date is on record. When you move out, that set of photos settles most deposit arguments before they start.
Where people get stuck
- !An unregistered contract — affitto in nero — looks like a saving, but the landlord can put you out whenever they like, and you cannot get residenza, claim the tax deduction, or apply for student aid. In law the tenant may demand registration and reclaim rent overpaid.
- !A deposit of more than 3 months’ rent is against the law. If they want it in cash and will not write a receipt, find another flat.
- !If the contract states a lower rent than you actually pay, it looks like a tax saving for both of you. But in a dispute, or when the deposit comes back, the only figure you can argue is the one written down.
- !Subletting — sublocazione — needs the landlord’s written consent; without it the contract can be terminated.