Buying property in Italy: why due diligence should come before the preliminary contract ("compromesso")

A recent ruling issued by Italy's Court of Cassazione on 24 January 2026 provides an important reminder for every foreign property buyer in Italy: the notarial process offers significant safeguards, but it is not a substitute for independent legal and technical due diligence focused on the buyer's interests. Ideally, those checks should be completed before the compromesso or protected by appropriate contractual conditions.

What happened — the facts of the case

A buyer purchased an Italian property in good faith, relying on the declarations made in the notarial deed. The deed described the property as residential. However, its authorised use was as a storage depot, and the certificate of habitability had not been issued.

After obtaining restitution of the purchase price from the seller at first instance, the buyer pursued a claim for professional liability against the notary. The dispute eventually reached Italy's Supreme Court.

The ruling fits within a well-established line of Italian case law recognising that the notary's role includes important duties of information and advice. For the buyer, the practical lesson is different but equally important: notarial safeguards and independent legal and technical due diligence perform complementary functions.

What the ruling means in practice for foreign buyers

In a standard Italian property purchase, the rogito (final notarial deed) is the instrument by which title is normally transferred from seller to buyer. The notary performs important legal checks and has significant duties of information and advice. Those safeguards, however, are not the same as a complete buyer-side investigation of the property's actual condition and municipal planning history. Depending on the property, the following matters may therefore require specific independent verification before the buyer becomes contractually bound:

• Whether the property's actual permitted use matches what the seller has declared
• Whether the required habitability/occupancy documentation (agibilità) is in place
• Whether the property's floor plans as registered in the cadastre correspond to the building as it actually stands
• Whether any part of the building was constructed or modified without planning permission (abusi edilizi)
• Whether the property is subject to heritage, landscape or hydrogeological constraints affecting renovation or future use
• Whether there are outstanding municipal orders, fines or enforcement proceedings against the property

The specific risks for buyers of northern Italian property

The Cassazione ruling concerned a property in southern Italy, but the legal principles it addresses apply uniformly across the country. They are particularly relevant for the types of property most commonly sought by international clients in northern Italy, such as:

Rural properties and farmhouses (cascine, rustici)

Older rural properties in Piedmont, Lombardy and the pre-Alpine areas may have been converted, extended or altered over time, sometimes without the relevant planning permits. Examples can include barns converted to living quarters, extensions, wells or agricultural structures whose administrative history requires careful review. Issues of this kind may require a targeted cadastral and planning investigation.

Lake and lakeside properties

Properties on the shores of Lago Maggiore, Lago di Como, Lago d'Orta and Lago di Garda may be subject to landscape protection constraints (vincoli paesaggistici), involving the competent public authorities. These constraints can limit what may be built, modified or extended and may materially affect renovation plans. They require specific administrative investigation to identify and assess.

Properties in condominium

Apartments in shared buildings may carry significant outstanding condominium debts (debiti condominiali) from the seller's tenure. Under Italian law, the buyer may be jointly liable with the seller for condominium charges relating to the current accounting year and the preceding one — a risk that should be specifically verified before the deed.

What independent legal and technical due diligence covers

Conducted properly — and ideally completed before the compromesso (preliminary agreement) is signed, or protected by appropriate contractual conditions — a full due diligence addresses the principal legal and technical risk areas that standard transaction checks may not fully resolve:

• Title investigation: verification of ownership chain, mortgages, easements, charges and third-party rights registered against the property
• Cadastral and planning compliance: comparison of the registered cadastral plan against the actual building; identification of any discrepancies or unauthorised works
• Permitted use: verification that the property's declared use matches its administrative classification
• Heritage and landscape constraints: identification of all vincoli affecting the property and their practical implications for renovation and future use
• Renovation feasibility and cost: preliminary assessment of works required and indicative cost estimate before financial commitment is made
• Tax review: assessment of applicable acquisition taxes and identification of available fiscal benefits, including prima casa relief, renovation deductions, and — where applicable — the flat-rate regime for new Italian tax residents

The practical takeaway for Baltic and Nordic buyers

For buyers from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and across Scandinavia, the Italian purchase process may differ materially from what they are accustomed to at home. Foreign buyers may assume that all technical and administrative aspects of the property are automatically verified as part of the conveyancing process. In Italy, some buyer-specific investigations must instead be actively arranged.

The Cassazione's 2026 ruling is a useful reminder that the Italian property market offers outstanding opportunities, but careful preparation matters. The Italian notarial system provides important safeguards; independent buyer-side legal and technical due diligence adds a separate layer of protection by examining the property from the buyer's perspective before a binding commitment is made.