Real estate in Italy: what a visura and a declaration of succession mean for your case

Flanders has a large group of residents with Italian roots, especially in Limburg and around Genk, where the mines attracted Italian workers from the 1950s onwards. Many families still have a house or land in their municipality of origin, often inherited and undivided. When the Flemish housing companies commissioned investigations on a large scale through the framework agreement in 2021, it turned out that such ownership was widespread. VRT NWS reported in April 2022 that in the month of March, property was found in 85 of 104 investigated cases, 37 of them in Italy.

Unlike in some other countries, Italian property is often old, low in value and divided among many heirs. For the Flemish property ownership condition, that has mattered since 1 October 2025: an inherited share no longer excludes, a fully inherited house does. For the living wage (leefloon), every share counts as a resource.

Italy has two kinds of official documents that come up in a case file.

A visura catastale is a cadastral extract. It describes a plot or building with its cadastral location, the category (home, outbuilding, land), the surface area or number of rooms and the rendita catastale, the notional cadastral income on which taxes are calculated. It also states the intestatari: the persons in whose name the property is registered, with their share. The cadastral extract is fiscal in nature and does not in itself prove ownership.

A visura ipotecaria is an extract from the mortgage and property register. It contains the transcribed deeds: purchase, gift, succession, mortgage, attachment. This document shows the title and the date of acquisition. In the case of an inheritance, the dichiarazione di successione, the declaration of succession, is the key document: it lists all heirs and their shares, even if the transcription in their names has not yet taken place.

Italian documents work with the codice fiscale, the tax number derived from name, sex, date of birth and place of birth. Full name, date of birth and place of birth are therefore the details you supply with a request for Italy; you may additionally state a known municipality or province of origin.

A pre-check gives a first picture: are there assets in the name of the person concerned in Italy, and what type of assets are they? A pre-check does not include any further investigation. The expected lead time is communicated in advance for each case. The answer contains:

• yes or no, with the date of the findings;
• the type of asset: home, apartment, building land or agricultural land;
• our advice on whether an in-depth investigation is worthwhile.

A complete and detailed picture, with location, plot, ownership share, any co-owners and the rendita catastale (an initial indication of the fiscal value), is provided by the full in-depth investigation. That investigation can include the relevant extracts, the deed or the declaration of succession, with a report in English. If your case requires a valuation or sworn translation, we discuss the options, conditions and costs in advance. Depending on the document and its intended use, we assess whether a sworn translation, apostille or other formality is needed; Italy is a party to the Apostille Convention.

Undivided inheritances. Italian families often leave an estate undivided for years. A tenant may own a twelfth of a house in a village without ever having been there. Since 1 October 2025, such a share no longer excludes social housing, but the reduction for the period 2017 to September 2025 remains recoverable; see the new property ownership condition.

Low values. A house in a shrinking mountain village may have a rendita of a few tens of euros and a limited market value. For the Flemish property ownership condition the value is not relevant, for the living wage it is. A valuation may then be worthwhile before you claim; we discuss in advance whether that is possible in your case.

Usufruct of parents. Many homes are registered in bare ownership in the children’s names, with usufruct for the parents. Since 1 October 2025, bare ownership in itself does not exclude social housing: the Flemish property ownership condition concerns full ownership or full usufruct. Still mention such a situation in your request; it clarifies the ownership position and may be relevant for other assessments, such as the living wage.

Italy is one of our research countries; for each case we indicate in advance what is possible. See the country page Italy and the overview of research countries.

Sources: VRT NWS, 12 April 2022; Apostille Convention, HCCH.