Property in Italy explained - what types of house are
available?
Living in a box? - You'd be more at home in a villa or
a casale, w think.
Property in Italy can be a bit confusing because like the Italian
language itself, the terms which are used to describe the types of
property in Italy are imprecise and not necessarily applied with any
level of accuracy or forethought. We are now on our second house here
(having bought a bi-familiare first, we are now owners of a villa,
restored casale or casa independente depending upon how you wish to look
at it.
Here are the main types of property in Italy.
Appartamento - An apartment or flat but probably larger than
either a monolocale or a bilocale.
Attico - The top floor of a block of flats; ie the penthouse.
Bi-familiare - a semi-detached house. NB semi-detached is not
very popular with immigrants to Italy (despite it having a reasonably
elevated status in the UK) although native Italians often have little
choice but to buy into such an arrangement. The main problem with this
type of house is that Italian law can be a bit confusing and illogical
over matters like who is responsible for the roof, deciding what colour
the walls are painted, replacing windows etc.
Bilocale - This is a two room flat.
Box - this is a lock-up or garage and not a term describing
residential property in Italy.
Casa independente - Literally a detached house. It is hard to
tell what the difference is between such a property and a villa for
example although, again literally, a villa should have a higher level of
luxury attached to it.
Casale (also called 'Rustico') - the word 'Casale' comes from the
Latin 'casalis' which means an isolated country house or even a small
hamlet. The clear common thread is that it relates to a very rural
property.
Mansarda - A bit like the 'attico' but definitely a less
glamorous property or location.
Monolocale - A studio flat - smaller than an apartment.
Rustico - see Casale (above)
Palazzo - once meant a palace but now can just be used to mean a
large building. Probably refers to a block of flats.
Schiera - A terraced property.
Terratetto (or terracielo) - basement or below ground apartment.
Villa - In Roman times this would have been owned by the
aristocracy and have been a very grand building. Since then it has been
redefined as a self-sufficient community building. Looking at its usage
by Italian Estate agents, it would appear to describe a detached
property with above average facilities (eg a swimming pool, tennis court
etc).
Good luck with your house-hunting. We hope you will join us and find
your ideal property in Italy.
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