An unauthorized building is a construction that has seen the light of day without the proper permits. So, the legit question asked by the owner is the following: how can I put on the market an unathorized building? The answer is that the Italian Supreme Court has overturned this general rule by opening a window on the possible legality of the transaction. The reasons for this decision lie at the basis of the concept of “unauthorized building.” Let’s look at them.

What is an unauthorized building?

The concept of unauthorized building touches on several topics and issues that would take us clearly off topic. We will therefore just simplify it by focusing on the definitions of interest to us:

⁃ Violation of building regulations exists when a property is built in total absence of permits. This is the case of total infringement.

⁃ When the property is built differently from what is established with the required permits. This is referred to as essential violation, and refers to when increased volume is implemented, for example, or nonessential violation.

In these last cases, retrospective building permit is provided, but only if the following targets are met: the construction complies with urban regulations at the time of construction; the construction complies with urban regulations at the time of the application for retrospective building permit.

When shall the sale of an unothorized building be valid?

Based on the different types of building abuse listed above, the Supreme Court have recognized a “range” of freedom in the sale that is more or less wide.

If the property is completely illegal, i.e., without any building permit, the sale is absolutely forbidden, plus there is the liability of the notary public for failing to detect the nullity of the deed of sale.

On the other hand, it is valid to buy and sell real estate which has got a building permit granted but has been constructed in a manner that differs from the same license. This freedom was established because of the buyer’s ability to be able to document about the real correspondence between the building permit and the actual condition of the property.