ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Guido Alberto Inzaghi, Ivana Magistrelli, Silvia Gnocco and Gabriele Paladini, SI – Studio Inzaghi
1. General 1.1 Main Sources of Law
The EU Taxonomy Regulation identifies a set of criteria for determining what is green and sus - tainable and what is not and identifies all the economic activities that make a substantial con - tribution to achieving at least one of the six envi - ronmental objectives identified by the European Commission. 1.2 Main Market Trends and Deals The total investment volume for commercial real estate in Italy in 2024 was approximately EUR9.8 billion, which was nearly a 60% increase com - pared to 2023. Notably, the fourth quarter played a pivotal role, generating investments of approxi - mately EUR3.4 billion, which was an increase compared to the preceding quarters of 2024 and the fourth quarter of 2023. The primary driver of this strong performance was the retail sector. In the fourth quarter, this sector attracted approximately EUR800 million in investments, culminating in an annual total of EUR2.4 billion, ie, the highest level in the past six years. The supermarkets and shopping centres segments were particularly active in the fourth quarter and given the strong pipeline of planned deals, they are expected to maintain significant investment volumes in 2025. The office sector also demonstrated remarkable growth, with total investments reaching EUR2.2 billion nationwide in 2024, which was an increase of 90% from the previous year. Approximately EUR700 million of this was transacted in the fourth quarter alone. Milan and Rome remained the focal points for investment, attracting 45% and 40% of the annual volume, respectively. The logistics sector attracted approximately EUR560 million in the fourth quarter, bringing the total for the year to approximately EUR1.7 billion, which was consistent with 2023 levels.
The Italian Civil Code is the main source of real estate law for civil purposes. Commercial leases are governed by Law No 392/1978 (the “Tenancy Law” ), while residential leases are governed by Law No 431/1998. Zoning and planning aspects are mainly regu - lated by several national, regional and munici - pal laws and regulations. The main national legal and regulatory sources in this regard are the Urban Planning Law No 1150/1942, which gov - erns planning aspects and D.P.R. No 380/2001, regulating construction aspects. The main sources of real estate finance law are: • Legislative Decree No 385/1993 of 1 Septem - ber 1993 (the “TUB” ) on banking and lending matters; • Law No 130/1999 of 30 April 1999 on securiti - sation transactions; • Legislative Decree No 170/2004 of 21 May 2004 on financial security agreements; and • Directive 2011/61/EU on alternative invest - ment fund managers. In terms of ESG regulations, initiatives that close - ly involve the real estate market are Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on sustainability-related disclo - sure in the financial services sector (the “SFDR Regulation” ) and Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of 18 June 2020 (the “EU Taxonomy Regulation” ). The SFDR Regulation aims to bring greater trans - parency on social and environmental responsi - bility for financial markets and to limit so-called greenwashing. It also aims to ensure compara - bility of products and direct the flow of private capital towards more sustainable investments.
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