Piano Casa 2026: what the decree-law provides to address the housing crisis
DVArea · 11 May 2026
Italy’s demographic trend is now steadily declining, and the average age continues to rise. Italy is a country with fewer and fewer young people; we are becoming a country for older people, in stark contrast to the award-winning film by the Coen brothers from nearly 20 years ago.
In addition, situations that diversify housing demand are becoming increasingly common:
- Divorced or otherwise separated individuals seeking to rebuild their lives and find a new home
- Young people who need to move to another city in search of work
- Elderly people living in homes that are now too large and perhaps too expensive for their lifestyle
- Multiculturalism, which can give rise to conflicts over lifestyles among neighbours, especially in suburban contexts characterised by large apartment blocks that create almost self-contained ecosystems
The scenario is therefore evolving, and it is within these conditions that the government has launched a new nationwide Housing Plan capable of generating 100,000 housing units over the next 10 years, with a total value of €10 billion. In this context, the measure must necessarily be structured not merely as a housing and urban planning policy, but as one that also extends into other areas such as social and cultural policy.
The measure was officially published in the Official Gazette on 7 May as Decree-Law No. 66, which means it must be converted into law within 60 days of publication to stabilise its regulatory framework and prevent its legislative effects from lapsing.
The measure is not intended as an emergency intervention, but rather as a structural component of the national legislative framework in this sector, pursuing several housing-related objectives, all centred on three key principles.
Recovery of Public Housing Assets
The first pillar concerns the regeneration of 50,000–60,000 housing units that can be restored quickly, with the aim of launching construction sites as early as June and recovering at least 10,000 units by the summer, thanks to procedural simplifications and the option to redeem public residential housing properties (ERP), transforming rent already paid into an advance payment towards purchase.
One of the challenges of the new Piano Casa 2026 is the ability to create, in a short timeframe, a structured supply chain from a technical perspective, in both the private and public sectors, since the regeneration of ERP housing involves activities such as surveying, design, procurement, construction-site operations, final inspections and certifications, followed by allocation and management. These are not areas in which our country particularly excels, along with another major challenge identified by the plan: public spending, in terms of funding and co-financing.
Social Housing Fund
The second pillar concerns combating demographic ageing and housing-related loneliness through revenues of more than €3.6 billion allocated to a national fund, divided into regional sections, intended for out-of-town students, young couples, single-parent households, so-called “grey-band” workers (nurses, drivers, teachers, law enforcement personnel), and self-sufficient elderly people.
Private Sector Involvement and Subsidised Housing
The final objective directly involves the private sector: developers and operators joining the plan will benefit from faster administrative procedures, reduced bureaucratic requirements, and public guarantees. In return for these incentives, at least 70% of the housing units must be allocated to subsidised housing, with prices at least 33% below market rates.
In addition to the measures outlined above, the rent-to-buy scheme is being reformed. Under this mechanism, tenants may move into a property by paying rent higher than the market average, with the possibility – after a contractually established period – of purchasing the property by deducting the rent already paid from the agreed purchase price. The reform aims to support individuals who are unable to access bank mortgages in the short term by introducing the possibility of partially deducting the purchase price component, reducing property registration taxes, and granting priority measures for young people, couples, and separated parents.
Finally, co-housing policies are being redefined according to two new paradigms:
- Silver co-housing, as a new form of collaborative living intended to create a community rather than a traditional condominium
- Intergenerational co-housing, designed to bring together younger and older people in a shared housing project with mutual support and sustainability benefits, guaranteed through notarised agreements
The objective of the government’s action is to address housing emergencies by redefining the system’s paradigms and rebalancing the relationship between supply and demand, producing social effects as well as environmental benefits through the regeneration of entire urban areas.
The Piano Casa 2026 was conceived as a structural measure, not limited to a single emergency period but capable—if not of solving, at least to improve and expanding housing supply from a social perspective—while also intersecting with urban-planning and environmental regeneration issues. The main challenges concern:
- the effectiveness of administrative action;
- certainty in public spending;
- territorial and economic inequalities.
The objective of the Housing Plan is to contribute not only to the creation of new housing units, but also to fostering connections, building communities, and improving safety within an efficient and inclusive system. It remains to be seen whether these theoretical intentions will be successfully translated into practice.
Law No. 116/2026: Urgent Provisions for the Housing Plan
Decree-Law No. 66, published in the Official Gazette on 7 May, was converted into law on 3 July 2026 through Law No. 116/2026, which consequently entered into force the following day, although not without a number of amendments.
Many of the changes concerned formal corrections and terminological or cross-referencing clarifications. However, some substantive amendments were also introduced, particularly to improve access to incentive measures for families including persons with severe disabilities, students living away from home, members of the Carabinieri Corps, and to strengthen the real-estate portfolio of the Ministry of Defence in order to meet the needs of the Armed Forces and the Guardia di Finanza. At the same time, the article concerning the purchase of public residential housing units by their occupants was entirely rewritten.
One distinctive feature of this measure is that it constitutes what is commonly referred to as a “framework law”. Its purpose is therefore to establish general principles and guidelines, while delegating the definition of specific details and the practical implementation of its provisions to subsequent regulations and implementing measures. More specifically, the Housing Plan refers to ministerial decrees, decrees of the President of the Council of Ministers, agreements that may also be concluded with individual municipalities, regulations, public notices, resolutions, guidelines and special commissioner orders. Consequently, the effectiveness of the measures envisaged is determined not so much by the entry into force of the decree-law on 8 May, or of the corresponding conversion law incorporating the amendments on 4 July, as by the timetable of this extensive set of measures required to implement the proposed strategies.
Finally, a broader consideration should be made. With the issue of the Housing Plan now “resolved” — subject, as noted, to the necessary array of implementing instruments — it is hoped that progress will now accelerate on the widely announced reform of the Consolidated Building Act. The Government is undoubtedly working on this reform, although it is encountering difficulties in discussions with municipalities and regions within the Unified Conference, particularly with regard to the allocation of responsibilities and delegated powers, as well as the requirement of dual compliance in procedures for regularising unauthorised building works.
Enzo Zogno
Engineer | Associate DVArea | Head of Urban planning & Building permits Dept.
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