In this article, you’ll find valuable information on How to buy a house in Venice in complete safety.

Thanks to its rich cultural heritage, Venice attracts several million tourists and several thousand investors every year. Many people want to buy a flat here for a holiday or to develop a business.

Venice’s strong tourist appeal has encouraged the rapid spread of short-term rentals. Today, in the historic centre of Venice, there are several thousand tourist leases open on a regular basis.

Renting flats or parts of flats for short stays seems to be the preferred formula for tourists. Over the years, demand for this type of hospitality has grown steadily. It now regularly attracts media and political attention.

This attention has led to various attempts to control and regulate the phenomenon.

So, before buying a flat in Venice, it’s important to be aware of certain key points in the purchasing process and to ensure that your project is feasible. Here, we’ll look at the specifics of buying a flat in Venice, after briefly outlining the procedure.

The procedure for buying a flat in Venice

How to buy a house in Venice? Buying a flat in Venice can have major consequences for the nature of your obligations. To begin with, therefore, you should be familiar with the main stages of the property purchase procedure.

There are three main stages in buying a flat in Venice:

1) The offer to purchase, in which the potential buyer formalises his or her intention to buy the property;

2) The preliminary sales agreement, in which the parties agree on the various terms and conditions of the transaction;

3) The final deed of sale, which sanctions the transfer of ownership from the previous owner to the new owner.

THE OFFER TO PURCHASE (OR ‘PROPOSTA DI ACQUISTO’)

Once you have identified the property you wish to buy in Venice, you need to make an offer to purchase. The purpose of this is to inform the seller of your wish to purchase the property on the terms indicated. If you accept, this initial act commits you to contractual responsibility for the conclusion of the transaction.

It is therefore essential that you study the documentation relating to the property before taking out the contract. This will provide you with invaluable information about the property’s cadastral and town-planning compliance, the functioning and regularity of its facilities, and the tax aspects of its acquisition. This stage is essential to ensure that you can carry out your project in complete safety.

On the basis of this information, you should then draw up an offer to purchase, taking care to include all the clauses necessary to protect your interests. Often, an estate agent will send you an offer to purchase in the form of a pre-printed form. This type of document is generally not adapted to the characteristics of the property or the needs of the buyer. It is essential that all investors have this document checked by a solicitor before signing. Alternatively, they can ask the lawyer to draw up an offer directly, so that their interests are sufficiently protected.

Acceptance of the offer to purchase has two consequences. Firstly, the buyer pays a deposit to the seller. If the transaction is interrupted, the seller could lose this sum. Secondly, the seller withdraws the property from the property market.

THE PRELIMINARY SALES AGREEMENT (OR ‘CONTRATTO PRELIMINARE DI COMPRAVENDITA’)

To buy a flat in Venice, the parties can then sign a preliminary sales agreement. This contract sets out the terms and conditions for the final deed of sale.

It contains all the information required to complete the sale. In particular, it sets out the price, the terms of payment and any other information needed to conclude the deal.

THE FINAL DEED OF SALE (OR ‘ROGITO NOTARILE’)

The final stage is when a trusted notary draws up the final deed of sale. The buyer pays the balance of the transaction into the seller’s account. They may also pay it into the notaire’s escrow account. The notary will then transfer it to the seller. In return, the seller hands over the keys to the buyer. By signing the deed, the buyer becomes the new beneficial owner of the property.

When it comes to signing the deed of sale, Italian law requires any foreign buyer who is not fluent in Italian to hire an interpreter. However, hiring a bilingual lawyer can save you real money. The lawyer acts as both legal adviser and interpreter.

The specifics of buying a flat in Venice: Short-term tourist rentals

In order to pay off a loan or generate additional income, it is common to want to rent out one’s property. If you wish to buy a flat in Venice with the aim of developing a rental business, you should check the feasibility of your project before signing any documents.

The procedures for opening a short-term tourist rental business in Venice are very specific. They differ from those commonly encountered in Veneto or any other region of Italy.

In addition to the general rules laid down at national and regional level, there are a series of specific Venetian regulations.

A whole series of constraints and limitations were laid down in the building regulations of 15 February 2020. These stem from the desire to preserve Venice’s distinctive architectural heritage.

With this text, the mayor attempted to curb the proliferation of short-term tourist rentals in the historic centre.

The main element used to limit the development of rentals in Venice is the requirement for septic tanks in the properties concerned. More than a mere presence, these must comply with current standards.

Buildings used as B&Bs, tourist rentals or any other form of tourist activity included in regional law no. 11/2013 and managed on an entrepreneurial basis are now subject to the obligation to bring septic tanks into compliance with current standards. The same obligation applies to buildings used for tourist rental activities, managed on a non-commercial basis, which are activated after the entry into force of the aforementioned regulation.

Because of its configuration, Venice does not always allow septic tanks to be installed on its territory. What’s more, even when this is theoretically possible, in practice it is often limited by the failure to obtain the necessary permits, disputes and co-ownership rules, or because the cost is too high.

In addition, there are a whole series of additional minor rules that limit the development of tourist leases.

These include provisions relating to tourist tax, which is almost doubled for short-term rentals in Venice compared to other forms of hospitality (hotels, B&Bs, etc.). There are also provisions for the affixing of plates bearing the regional identification code assigned to tourist accommodation.

In conclusion…

It is certainly possible to open a tourist lease in Venice. However, the number of regulations governing this activity means that you need to be particularly careful.

To avoid the slightest inconvenience, it is essential to check the feasibility of your project before making any offer to purchase.

Now you know How to buy a house in Venice, but before making any offer, make sure you fully understand the legal implications. Italian property law is very specific. It is therefore advisable to have any document examined by an independent, specialist, English-speaking lawyer before signing it.

At De Tullio Law Firm, we have over 55 years’ experience in handling property transactions throughout Italy. If you are interested in buying a home in Venice, contact us. We will take care of your project, providing security and structure from start to finish.

We offer a free preliminary call to address your questions and provide insights tailored to your specific situation. The consultation is entirely free of charge and serves as an opportunity for us to offer guidance based on your unique needs and circumstances.

To schedule a convenient time for our discussion, you may use the booking link provided here: https://calendly.com/detulliolaw/15min.