Buying in a Historic Centre

Picture a floor of a palazzo in Florence, with a staircase shared with the neighbours and a street below. Now picture a farmhouse in the Val d’Orcia. Both are Tuscan property, and the legal position of each differs.

How is a city flat different from a country house?

Buyers who have looked mainly at country property sometimes turn to the cities later in a search. Historic centres contain buildings of very different kinds, from modest flats to noble floors of palazzi.

The ownership is structurally different from a rural house. In the countryside the buyer owns a house and its land, and constraints come from the landscape and heritage authorities. In a historic centre the buyer owns part of a building, shares the rest with other owners whose decisions bind all of them, and sits inside a regulatory layer that covers works, use and, in some cities, short-term letting.

What can the other owners decide?

Where a building is divided among several owners, Italian law establishes a condominio: common parts owned jointly, an administrator, an assembly (assemblea), and decisions taken by defined majorities that bind all owners, including those who voted against, subject to the right to challenge a decision within thirty days.^[1] The condominio is comparable to a US condominium or co-op, but with Italian rules on contributions, resolutions and liability. Roof, façade, stairs and courtyard are typically common parts. Expenses for the conservation of common parts are shared in proportion to the value of each owner’s property unless an agreement provides otherwise.^[2]

Two points are normally checked before a purchase. The first is the building’s financial position: whether major works have been approved, planned or disputed. A façade or roof restoration in a historic palazzo can be a large sum. The second is the condominium regulations, which may restrict use, short-term letting, alterations or the use of balconies.

Who pays for works approved before the sale?

The position is set by case law. In a judgment of 28 April 2021, Italy’s Court of Cassation held that the assembly’s resolution approving works creates the obligation to pay.^[3] Where a sale follows the resolution, the cost of those works is, absent an agreement between seller and buyer, borne by the seller, even if the works are carried out later.^[3] The buyer can claim back from the seller what it has paid to the condominium.^[3] A private agreement between seller and buyer does not bind the condominium.^[3] The buyer is jointly liable towards the condominium for the contributions of the current year and the previous year.^[4] Later decisions are reported to be consistent.^[5]

Two cautions apply. First, the 2021 judgment applied the wording of the provision in force before the 2013 reform, and a lawyer should confirm how it applies today. Second, because the allocation between seller and buyer is a matter of agreement, the preliminary contract is the place where approved but unexecuted works, arrears and the current budget are normally allocated.

What does a heritage declaration mean for a buyer?

Many historic buildings are subject to a cultural-interest declaration under the Code of Cultural Heritage. Works of any kind on cultural goods require the authorisation of the soprintendente, the head of the Soprintendenza, the State heritage authority, in addition to the ordinary municipal permit.^[6] A change of use must be communicated to the soprintendente.^[6] The authorisation can extend to elements such as window frames, shutters, external colour and internal features of significance.

The sale carries a further step. The sale of a cultural good must be reported to the Ministry.^[7] The seller has 30 days to report, to the soprintendente.^[7] The Ministry has 60 days from the notice to exercise the right of pre-emption, the State’s right to buy a listed property at the price in the deed, within fixed time limits.^[8] If the notice is omitted, late or incomplete, the period is 180 days.^[8] While the 60 days are running the deed is subject to a suspensive condition, and the property cannot be delivered.^[8] Clauses in the contract do not bind the State.^[8]

The State can exercise the right at the price stated in the deed,^[9] and the property passes to the State on the last notification.^[8] Where the right is exercised over only part of the property, the buyer may withdraw.^[8] Regions and local bodies can propose to the Ministry that it exercise the right, and the Ministry may waive it.^[10]

The consequence is plain. A completion date on a declared building is not entirely within the parties’ control. Whether a given property is declared is established from the title and from the soprintendenza. A law of 17 March 2026 amended the Code’s article on works and abrogated its letter b); the current text should be read before relying on any earlier commentary.^[11]

What about parking, traffic and daily life?

Many Tuscan historic centres are restricted traffic zones (ZTL, zona a traffico limitato), in which vehicle access needs a permit. In Florence, vehicle access and permits are administered through the municipal company Servizi alla Strada, and residents and registered domiciliati can apply for permits online; guests are normally registered by the accommodation or garage, and businesses have separate procedures.^[12] Rules vary by comune and change.^[12]

Parking in a walled centre is limited. Whether a parking space or garage comes with a property is established from the deed and the cadastral records, and such a space can be a separate cadastral unit. Other practical questions include whether there is a lift and whether one could be installed, how the flat is heated, how goods and furniture are brought in, and noise from the street. These depend on the building and are checked on site.

Can a city flat be let, and what does the condominium say?

Letting in a city centre is governed by the national framework discussed in the article on letting a Tuscan property, and also by municipal rules and, in condominiums, by the building’s regulations.

The Comune di Firenze announced on 14 May 2026 that the regional administrative court (the Tribunale amministrativo regionale, TAR, for Tuscany), Section I, had rejected 18 appeals against its rules on short-term tourist letting.^[13] The rules include a municipal regulation adopted by council resolution of 5 May 2025, a ban on key boxes, and a planning variant that bars new “residenza temporanea” uses in the UNESCO area.^[13][14]

The condominium regulations matter as well. A regulation that is contractual (approved by all owners or set by the original developer) can limit the use of individual units only if the limit is stated clearly and specifically, and for it to bind later buyers it must have been transcribed in the property registers. Generic wording such as “contrary to decorum” is not enough. Case law has applied a clause banning use as “casa di alloggio” to a bed and breakfast,^[15] and other decisions are reported to point the same way.^[16] A lawyer should confirm the position for a given building.

Heritage declarations, condominium regulations and municipal letting and traffic rules are specific to the individual building and comune and change over time. The practical order of checks is therefore the municipal rule for the address, then the condominium regulation and its transcription, then the price or use assumptions built on them.