Buying in Italy, the “categorie catastali”: what are they?

While looking for a property to buy, you may have bumped into some “categoria catastale A3” or “categoria catastale C3” etc. and you may have wondered what that was.

The categorie catastali are classes properties in Italy are grouped into. They go from “A” to “F”.
The category “A” refers to residential buildings and it’s the category you find more often while looking for a home.
The category “C” refers to shops, warehouses, cellars, garages and you could also find it fairly often.
It is not uncommon that category “A” properties come up for sale with some annexes included in category “C”: for example, an apartment (category “A”) is often sold with a garage or cellar (both falling into category “C”).

Each category is subdivided in sub-categories from 1 onwards. For example, the category “A”, residential buildings, includes sub-categories from A/1 to A/11.
Each category has a rendita, i.e. a value which determines the amount of tax the buyer will have to pay when buying, the amount of TaRi and the amount of IMU the owner will have to pay annually, etc.
Hence, it is important to know which categoria catastale the property you are going to buy falls into.

The categories you find more often when searching for a property are A/2: abitazione di tipo civile – civil dwelling; A/3: abitazione di tipo economico – economic dwelling; A/4 abitazione di tipo popolare which are more affordable properties.
If you find a property listed as C/2, for example, you have actually found a cellar, though presented as a residential home; in practical terms, it is not suitable to live in as is.

Fortunately, it is possible to move a property from a category into another, but that is possible only if some parameters and requirements are fulfilled; for example, it is possible to have a property switching from a cellar into a residential home, if there is an appropriate number of windows, if the windows fulfil the size requirements, if the ceilings are high enough, etc. The change of category may not be a straight forward process, and it may also be lengthy and expensive.
If you end up buying a cellar rather than a residential home, your property is deemed not suitable for living in; as a consequence, you can’t legally live there, you can’t legally rent it out, it won’t be insured as “home”, etc, so be aware of what you are going to buy.

In addition to all that, some categories are subject to special rules; for example, if you buy a property falling into category A/1 (stately and luxury homes), category A/8 (villas), category A/9 (castles) you do not take advantage of the prima casa tax break, and you will also pay the IMU even if that property is your main residential home.

Source Agenzia delle Entrate https://www.agenziaentrate.gov.it/portale/documents/20143/257829/Allegato+quadro+generale+categorie_QuadroGeneraleCategorie.pdf/caf80eb7-3b75-037f-02ee-93d47b1e9df4

This article is not exhaustive and is a guidance only.

If you need assistance in the buying process in Italy, please do get in touch.

Barbara De Benedittis Relocation and Legal in Italy