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Building superbonus: Italy’s draft budget leaves homeowners in limbo

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Building superbonus: Italy’s draft budget leaves homeowners in limbo
Italy's draft budget law has given indications on the future of the superbonus. Photo by Julia Solonina on Unsplash

Italy's draft budget proposal contains plans to extend the government’s home renovation ‘superbonus 110’ scheme and other building bonuses until 2023 – but only for certain categories of public housing and condominiums, leaving many property owners in suspense.

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The government has submitted its 2022 draft budget to the EU Commission, with parliamentary approval anticipated early next week, reported Il Sole 24 Ore.

The Budget Law outlines the government’s plans for healthcare, support for businesses and families, and investments in the work sector for the following year – and this year, all eyes are on potential extensions to the government’s tax relief schemes for those conducting home renovations and improvements.

Italy launched the 'superbonus 110' in May 2020 to restart a sluggish economy following the impacts of the pandemic, offering homeowners a tax deduction of up to 110% on expenses related to making energy upgrades and reducing seismic risk.

READ ALSO: Italy’s ‘superbonus’ renovations delayed by builder shortages and bureaucracy

Interest in the scheme has been so high that the government had previously confirmed it intends to extend the bonus beyond 2022, following surging demand for construction companies.

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But so far, no extension date for owners of single-family (one unit) and multi-family (two to four unit) homes has yet been announced. The draft law contains proposals to extend the bonus to the end of 2023 - but only for condominiums and social housing institutes.

As things stand, the 'superbonus' is due to expire for multi-family homeowners on December 31st, 2022 and for single-family homeowners on June 30th, 2022, with a possible extension till the end of the year for those in the latter category who have already completed 60% of the works on their property by the June deadline.

The news has come as a blow to property owners who were counting on government help to renovate older properties - or for those who have bought wrecks with the sole intention of restoring them thanks to the government funds.

Some have started a petition to extend the bonus, arguing that those with single or multi family homes shouldn't be excluded or labelled "houses of the rich".

Single and multi-family houses aren't the only ones to be excluded from a possible deadline extension, however.

Housing cooperatives, voluntary organisations and associations and amateur sports clubs are also left questioning whether their building projects are now up against an impending deadline too.

Many of those who tried to take advantage of the bonus have found themselves mired in delays as the scheme’s popularity led to a construction boom that has caused a shortage of both available construction firms and building materials.

House renovations. Deadlines are creeping closer for single family dwellings to complete renovation works. Photo by Milivoj Kuhar on Unsplash

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A quarterly report by market research firm Nomisma found that, one year on from the launch of the ‘superbonus’, there have been "obstacles in the path meaning that the number of [renovation] projects increased but not at the expected speed, and there is resignation and discouragement on the part of Italian families".

As things stand, the current deadlines for those hoping to claim the 'superbonus' vary depending on the type of building on which the work is being carried out:

  1. Single-family buildings: deadline June 30th, 2022
  2. Multi-family buildings with 2 to 4 units: December 31st, 2022
  3. Condominiums: December 31st, 2022
  4. Social housing: December 31st, 2023

While approval of the final draft of the Budget Law is anticipated within the next few days, the government didn’t release the law for 2021 until 31st December 2020, which means those hoping for concrete news about the extended 'superbonus' could be left in limbo until the last moment of this year.

The budget plan document or 'Dpb' (Documento programmatico di bilancio), approved by the government, which is sent to both parliament and the EU Commission, forms the basis of the eventual Budget Law.

Although not definitive nor confirmed, this document provides some indications on the solutions that will be included, which will come into force next year. All proposed measures and extensions will be submitted to the Senate for conversion into law.

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Anonymous 2021/10/25 11:48
I cant find anything in the document that talks about extensions for specific classes or even mentions the Superbonus specifically. There is one line that mentions broadly extending existing schemes?

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