Italy approves €10 billion ‘Piano Casa’ law to expand affordable housing

The Italian Senate gave final approval to the ‘Piano Casa’ law on 1 July, passing it with 106 votes in favour and 62 against. The decree allocates €10 billion over ten years to create up to 100 000 public or price‑capped homes for young people, students, workers in mobility, separated families and households in difficulty.

The plan, promoted by Minister of Infrastructure Matteo Salvini and endorsed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, includes a €970 million extraordinary programme for public residential housing, a guarantee fund against innocent rent arrears, and measures to facilitate the sale or lease of vacant public units. It also extends rent‑cap eligibility to public‑sector employees such as teachers and health‑care staff, earmarks €8.5 million for student housing in 2026, and encourages private‑capital participation.

Local officials welcomed the legislation. Senator Nino Germanà highlighted its role in securing a fundamental right, while Alessia Scorpo of the IACP of Siracusa called it a “new season for the right to housing”. The association of Italian municipalities (ANCI) warned that the financing may merely reallocate resources from existing urban‑regeneration programmes, potentially leaving communes to shoulder urban‑development fees without additional state funding.

Opposition parties questioned the plan’s impact, noting that demand far exceeds supply – around 650 000 families are on waiting lists – and critiqued the law as a re‑packaging of earlier measures rather than a historic overhaul.