What can be remedied with the Salva-Casa?
The decree, strongly desired by Minister Salvini, provides for the regularization of minor structural changes, avoiding sanctions for undeclared interventions such as verandas, mezzanines, additional compartments, extensions of windows and balconies, plasterboard partitions.
“The majority of Italian homes have small internal problems: the bathroom, the window, the veranda, the mezzanine. Millions of Italian homes are blocked by bureaucracy, our goal is to remedy these small internal irregularities.”says Salvini.
The plan of the decree concerns only modest modifications and not entirely illegal properties. As the minister specifies: “If someone has built a villa with a swimming pool or two additional floors, the answer is demolition, but if someone has an eight square meter bedroom built by their grandfather 30 years ago it is right that it can be shared: you pay and come back. peaceful owner of the property.”
Formal problems and double conformity
The Salva-Cas decree, according to what has been announced, will intervene on formal irregularities and non-conformities of the properties, specifically the intention is to eliminate the double barrier of compliancewhile maintaining urban planning regularity and not allowing the amnesty of properties built in prohibited areas.
As the architect explains to us. Marco Campagna, in the article “What can be remedied with the Save-Home Plan”the elimination of double compliance is one of the plus points complex and delicate in the amnesty of building defects. Italian legislation is not clear on conformity assessment procedures, leading to different and contradictory interpretations that disorientate citizens, technicians and administrative offices. Currently, the law requires that a non-conformity that complies with current regulations at the time of submission of the request and at the time of its execution. This double requirement was introduced to avoid political connivance, preventing administrations from modifying the rules to legitimize building abuses.
However, this double compliance can create problems. For example, a property with original discrepancies, compliant with the regulations of the time but not with the current ones, turns out to be incurable. On the contrary, discrepancies that would be compliant today but were not at the time of construction cannot be remedied unless demolished and rebuilt. Furthermore, the reconstruction of the past regulatory state, especially at municipal level, is complex and often impossible, increasing uncertainty.
Therefore, despite having valid reasons, the mechanism of double compliance ends up being more one obstacle than a protection, suggesting the need for its elimination or revision for the less significant discrepancies.
The doubts of the Quirinale and the position of the opposition
Although the decree is ready for discussion, an official draft has not yet been made public. The Quirinale raised doubts about the urgency of the matter, suggesting treat it with a bill rather than with a law decree. This approach would allow a more in-depth examination in Parliament, ensuring greater discussion and smoothing out the most delicate aspects of the text.
The Salva-Casa decree could represent a significant turning point for many property owners in Italy, simplifying regularization of small internal irregularities and making the buying and selling of homes easier. However, it remains to be seen how the legislative details will be addressed and what the political and institutional reactions to this measure will be.
