Housing in Modena
Houses in north Italy are different from houses in others European countries. The most common type of houses structures you may found in Modena are apartments. You can find them especially in the city centre as well as in the little towns that surround Modena. Its average measurement is from 70 to 120 or 200 square metres and it can be 5 to 10 units building. Living in apartments is how most of the Italians live so they are very easy to be found.
There is another kind of house apart from apartments and they are
semidetached houses which has got from 150 up to 250 square metres, Some has got small garden but they are not easy to be found and they cannot be found in the city centre but only in periphery and in the small towns surrounding Modena like Formigine (14 km away from Modena, 32.441 inhabitants), Montale (13 km away 10.167 inhabitants) or Maranello (18 km from Modena, 16,841 inhabitants) etc.
Single houses are also available and they sometimes have private gardens, they are not easy to be found and are very expensive. Single houses are situated in a way that neighbourhood are further from the house so you must be very careful when you are going out.
House contract characteristics
In Italy there are two types of contracts and they are: The free market contract and The rent controlled contract.
The free market contract which is the most common rental lease agreement for housing purposes and is called free market contract because the rent is freely agreed between the two parts (tenant and landlord). It is a four years lease which can be automatically renewed for 4 extra years, this lease has the advantage of being valid for a long period of time (8 years).
The rent controlled contract it consists in the notable incidence practiced on the content of the single contracts from agreements previously reached nationwide between the associations of the owners and the associations of the tenants, to the presence of the minister of the public jobs. The rental lease is not freely agreed by the parts, but it is fixed within locally established bands with accords between townships and associations of the owners and the tenants. The rent amount depends on different parameters, for example location, room numbers, whether the house is furnished or not etc.
The Italian lease on which properties for housing purpose are disciplined are the following laws: law n° 431/1998, law n° 392/1978, the articles of the civil code (from 1571 to 1611), the town regulations regarding the rent controlled lease and the seasonal contract and those for students.
Stipulation of the contract: Please note that in Italy the location contract is obligatory written. There are duties that the landlord and the tenant have to follow which are indicated in the contract. The tenant has to pay one month rent fee at the signing of the contract and this will be confirm his or her house contract, the reason why you will be paying the rent fee in advance is because in Italy rent are normally paid one month in advance as indicated on the contract.
Usually it will be ask a safety deposit equal to three months rent. The deposit must be returned at the conclusion of the lease, less the amount due to the landlord in damages, redecoration. Rent is normally paid one month in advance.
Registration fee is a tax of the contract which have to be paid yearly by both the landlord and the tenant in equal parts (50% + 50%). The 2% of the annual fee is the registration fee and this fee is divided for both the landlord and the tenant.
Every year the rent can be updated according to the increasing of the cost of life indicated by the Italian government. According to ISTAT the landlord increase he rental fee and it is monthly variable through the year (for example if someone rent a house march 2009 his or her rent fee will be increase by 1,5%).
Renewal: at the end of the second period renewal, before the expiring date of the contract, both the tenant and the landlord can ask for the contract to be renewed under new condition or they can renounce informing the other party via recorded delivery mail which must be sent according to the period indicated in the contract. The person who receives such mail has to reply with a recorded delivery mail. If there is not any reply or answer the contract will be renewed automatically at the same condition.
Cancellation of the contract on the path of the landlord may be done if the landlord intends to give the property to housing, commercial, handcraft or professional activities, to the partner, to the parents, to the children or to the second degree relatives etc. He or she must inform the tenant via recorded delivery mail which must be sent according to the period indicated on the contract.
Cancellation of the contract in the path of the tenant: The tenant has the right to cancel the contract at any time but have to make prior communication to the landlord via recorded mail which must be sent according to the period indicated on the contract. In case the tenant cancel the contract before its expiring date he or she must pay tax of €67 .
House return: The tenant has to return the house to the landlord in the same condition as she or he received it at the beginning of the rental term.
Main duties
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Tenant
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landlord
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The failure to pay the rent, after 20 days of the expiry date, that is the failure to pay the collateral (accessory) expenses, can constitute a reason to terminate the contract when the unpaid amount exceeds that of two month’s rent, under the article 1455 of the Italian civil code.
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At the contract signing the landlord must give to the tenant the house in good condition, being the object of the contract itself, and suitable for the use that the tenant intends to do with it, which cannot bring any nuisance hindering the quiet enjoyment.
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Collateral cost
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Tenant
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Landlord
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90% of the concierge service
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10% of the concierge service (expect opposite agreement)
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Power supply, heating and air conditioning, water supply, cesspool and latrine purge, Common services supply
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restore of the energy and the heating supplies, the restore of the roof, the gutters, the dumps. Except for the daily maintenance
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the planned maintenance of the elevator,
cleaning service, the functioning,
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property insurance, the extraordinary maintenance (paintwork of the fronts and the halls, the replacement of the component of the elevator), planned and extraordinary repairs
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expenses of the management and the maintenance
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extraordinary expenses (the connection to sewerage installation of the entry phone and the mail boxes), Administration expenses (remuneration to the administrator)
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Furniture
The apartments and the semidetached houses are usually unfurnished known as empty house. Unfurnished means that they are not furnished apart from the bathroom fittings.
Sometimes it could happen that the house you rent is furnished or partially furnished and this will be indicated in the contract. Partially furnished flats have usually got a kitchen, the bathroom fittings and some furnishing in the bathroom. Furnished means that apart from the bathroom fittings there are also dining, bedroom, living room furnitures and others.
Utilities in the house
In Italy, If you rent a house water, gas, electricity, telephone and internet services will not be working and this means that they have to be activated.
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If you activate electricity service its working will depends on which type of kilobyte you want and if the house you are going to live is new building or not. If is a new building it can take 10 or 20 days for it to work but if is not a new building and had not been rent for few month it will take 5 working days (working days which means from Monday to Friday) to start working.
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Activating gas and bin service will take 10 to 15 days before it starts working.
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Telephone and internet activation will take one month or more before it stars working and it depends where you will be living (whether is a new zone or not).
Residence
It could happen that the house you have rent is not ready (because there is no light or water ,cleaning or painting are needed etc) in that case the city of Modena offers some service apartments which you may use till the day you start living in.
Service apartments are furnished, (there are furniture) and electricity, water gas service, weekly house cleaning are included in the price. Other services e.g. (daily housekeeping service, laundry pick-up service, mini bar service are available but on payment).: “Residence and hotel Green suits” which is located in Casinalbo and the “Residence dei Gallucci” located in the city centre of Modena are e.g. of apartments service offered by the city of Modena.
For further information please visit their web site:
