Italy is turning into a country of "abandoned houses"

Every fourth house in Italy has no permanent residents. This is reported by the portal Il Sole 24 Ore.

It is reported that according to the report, "The supply of housing in Italy. General overview", prepared by the IFEL Foundation based on the data of the 2021 census, 27.3% of residential buildings are empty in the country, that is, about 9.5 million houses (in France this figure is three times lower, and in Germany — six times). Moreover, many of these houses are inherited or "dachas" used for recreation. About 5.7 million of them are theoretically suitable for rental, but remain unused. Most of these proposals are concentrated in small towns and villages in the south of the country. In the megacities of the center and the north, the housing situation is more stable.

At the same time, today 55% of Italians live in their own housing (these are mainly elderly people over 65 years old). Young people rent more often, but the rental market is extremely limited: only 13.1% of the housing stock is rented out — this is the lowest figure in Europe. For comparison, more than half of apartments are rented in Germany. At the same time, out of about 16 thousand new social housing units, only 2% are available for occupancy. This means that the offer of affordable real estate does not meet the needs of the population.

The publication notes that taking into account demographic changes — an increase in the number of single people, childless families and single parents - in the coming years, demand will shift towards small apartments and temporary housing. In this regard, the authors of the report urge the government to revise housing policy, focusing on the revitalization of the vacant stock and the development of affordable rental — both for existing and new housing.