Renting a home in Florence: what tenants and landlords need to know

Which lease have you signed?

Italian law provides a few types of residential lease (rental agreement), and the type decides how long you can stay and when the landlord can ask for the home back. The standard lease lasts at least four years and is renewed for another four. Agreed-rent leases (canone concordato) follow the terms set by local agreements, with a shorter minimum term. Transitional leases are allowed for specific, documented needs and can be shorter, and there is a separate type for university students.

Short-term vacation rentals for purely tourist purposes fall outside most of these rules. A contract described as "transitional" or "tourist" that in fact covers a long stay as a main home can be challenged: what decides the type is the real use, not the name given to the contract.

Registration and side agreements

The landlord must register the lease with the Italian Revenue Agency within thirty days and give the tenant documented notice of it. Any agreement to pay a rent higher than the one in the written, registered contract is void, and the tenant can claim back what was paid in excess, with an action that must be brought within six months of returning the home.

The security deposit

The security deposit cannot exceed three months' rent, and it earns interest at the statutory rate, which the landlord must pay to the tenant at the end of each year. At the end of the lease it must be returned. The landlord can withhold it only against amounts actually owed, such as unpaid rent or building charges, or damage beyond normal wear and tear, and these must be proven.

A deposit kept without a stated and documented reason can be claimed back. A formal letter from a lawyer, setting out the claim and its legal basis, is often the first step.

Leaving before the end of the lease

A tenant can withdraw from the lease at any time for serious reasons, giving the landlord six months' notice. Many contracts also give the tenant a wider right to withdraw on notice. What counts as a serious reason, and how the notice must be given, depends on the facts and on the wording of the contract: it is worth checking before sending the letter.

When the landlord wants the home back

At the first expiry of a standard or agreed-rent lease, the landlord can refuse renewal only for the reasons listed by law, such as using the home for themselves or close family, selling it under specific conditions, or major building works, and must give at least six months' notice. The reason must be stated in the notice, or the notice is void. At the end of the second term, either party can decline renewal, without having to state a reason, by registered letter sent at least six months before the expiry date.

A landlord who gets the home back by an unlawful notice owes the tenant damages of no less than thirty-six months of the last rent. If the home is not used for the stated purpose within twelve months, the tenant can ask for the lease to be restored or for those damages.

Unpaid rent and eviction

For landlords, the usual route against a tenant who does not pay is the eviction procedure for non-payment (sfratto per morosità) before the court. The tenant can stop the termination by paying, at the first hearing, all the rent and charges owed, with interest and costs; where the tenant shows real difficulty, the judge can grant a period to pay, as a rule up to ninety days. This can happen only a limited number of times in four years.

Acting early limits the loss: the unpaid amount grows every month the procedure is postponed, and the documents prepared at the start decide how quickly the case can move.

Frequently asked questions