Italy’s transitional lease (contratto transitorio): duration, requirements, rent, registration and tax (2026 guide)

What is a transitional lease in Italy?

A contratto di locazione transitorio, also called affitto transitorio or affitto a uso transitorio, is a lease of a home for a limited period, justified by a temporary need: a work assignment of a few months, a training course, waiting for a new home, a renovation. It’s the standard contract for mid-term rentals to relocating workers, professionals and students, including the tenants who find you through Uniplaces, HousingAnywhere or Spotahome.

It sits between the locazione breve (short-term rental, up to 30 days) and Italy’s ordinary leases: the 4+4 at market rent and the 3+2 at canone concordato, a rent set within local bands. The legal basis is art. 5 of Law 431/1998, which refers to the decree of 16 January 2017 (DM 16/1/2017) from the Ministry of Infrastructure. Many details, such as which needs are accepted and the rent bands, are then set by the accordo territoriale: a local agreement signed in each Comune (municipality) by landlords’ and tenants’ associations. How it compares with the other leases is explained in our guide to rental contracts in Italy.

How long can a transitional lease last?

The 2017 decree sets only the maximum of 18 months: the one-month minimum you’ll often read about came from the old 2002 decree. Some local agreements do set a minimum (Rome’s August 2023 agreement starts at 31 days, for example), so check the one for your Comune. If the need lasts more than 18 months or isn’t really temporary, a transitional lease is the wrong tool.

What are the requirements for a transitional lease?

The core requirement is the esigenza transitoria, a temporary need of either the landlord or the tenant. The decree refers in particular to work mobility, study, apprenticeships and vocational training and looking for work, but the exact list of accepted situations is in your Comune’s local agreement. In practice:

• the contract must be in writing and include a specific statement of the need, chosen from those in the local agreement;
• above 30 days the need must be proved with documents attached to the contract, such as a letter from the employer or proof of enrolment on a course;
• use the contract template set by the decree (Annex B, allegato B) and by the local agreement;
• if the need isn’t listed in the agreement or is hard to document, the agreements provide for support from the landlords’ and tenants’ associations.

Is the rent free or set by the local agreement?

It depends on the Comune. In Comuni with more than 10,000 inhabitants (according to the latest census), the rent of a transitional lease must fall between the minimum and maximum values of the bands set by the local agreement, with variations of up to 20% where the agreement allows them; for contracts of up to 30 days the rent is free. In the other Comuni the rent stays free.

If the contract isn’t signed with the assistance of the associations, you need an attestazione: a certificate from an organisation that signed the local agreement, confirming that your contract complies with it. According to the Agenzia delle Entrate, Italy’s tax agency (resolution 31/E of 2018), it’s required to obtain the tax benefits of concordato contracts signed without assistance. Bands, accepted needs and the attestation procedure vary a lot from city to city, because each Comune has its own agreement: start from the one where your property is.

What should the contract include? A checklist

• Landlord’s and tenant’s details, with codice fiscale (Italian tax code)
• Description of the property and cadastral data
• Duration, with start and end date (maximum 18 months)
• The specific temporary need (who, what, until when), from those in the local agreement
• Documents proving the need, attached to the contract (above 30 days)
• Reference to the local agreement and rent calculated by zone and band
• Security deposit: maximum 3 months’ rent, with legal interest due to the tenant
• Service charges and how rent is paid
• Tax regime chosen; for the cedolare secca, a registered letter to the tenant beforehand
• Association attestation, if the contract wasn’t signed with assistance
• Signatures, and registration with the Agenzia delle Entrate within 30 days

The codice fiscale is needed for both parties. Tenants arriving from abroad often don’t have one yet, so ask for it early: registration can’t be completed without it.

Student leases: what’s different?

For university students living away from home the decree provides a dedicated contract (art. 3 and Annex C), lasting 6 to 36 months and renewing automatically at expiry unless the student gives notice one to three months beforehand. The student must be enrolled on a degree or postgraduate course in a Comune other than the one where they live; the contract can be signed by a single student, by a group of students or by the regional bodies for the right to study.

Students can withdraw for serious reasons with three months’ notice, even individually when the contract was signed by several of them. It’s the most common contract for rooms and apartments near universities, often let through Uniplaces, HousingAnywhere and Spotahome. Unlike ordinary transitional leases, student leases keep the income tax (IRPEF) benefits of concordato contracts.

Does a transitional lease have to be registered? Taxes and cedolare secca

Yes. Registration is mandatory when the lease exceeds 30 days in total in the year with the same tenant, and it must be done within 30 days of signing, or of the start date if that comes first. You register online with RLI web, the Agenzia delle Entrate’s lease-registration service, or through an intermediary such as a commercialista (an Italian chartered accountant). An unregistered lease is void (Law 311/2004, art. 1, para. 346).

To use the cedolare secca you must notify the tenant beforehand by registered letter (raccomandata), waiving rent updates: without the letter the option has no effect. The 10% rate applies to transitional leases at canone concordato in Comuni ad alta tensione abitativa, a legal list of municipalities with high housing pressure that includes Rome and Milan (circular 8/E of 2017). From 1 January 2027 the same rules move into Italy’s new income tax code (D.Lgs. 117/2026) and the new consolidated law on registration tax, with the same rates. Living abroad doesn’t change this: rent from a home in Italy is taxed in Italy. Details, including the non-resident return, are in our guide to the cedolare secca.

Withdrawal, expiry and the end of the lease

• Tenant withdrawal: the ministerial template includes a withdrawal clause by registered letter, and the law in any case lets the tenant withdraw for serious reasons with six months’ notice (Law 392/1978, art. 4). For students, withdrawal for serious reasons requires three months’ notice.
• At expiry: an ordinary transitional lease ends on the date stated. The 2017 decree no longer requires the landlord to confirm the need by registered letter before expiry, as the 2002 decree did, but some older local agreements may still provide for it: check yours.
• If the tenant doesn’t leave: the landlord can ask a court for a convalida di sfratto per finita locazione, the fast-track procedure that confirms an eviction at the end of a lease (art. 657 of the Code of Civil Procedure).
• If you take the home back for a stated use and don’t carry it out within six months without good reason, the ministerial template gives the tenant the right to have an ordinary lease reinstated or to compensation.

Most problems start earlier: a vague need, missing documents, a deposit above the limit. Choosing the tenant carefully, documenting the need and keeping a record of payments and messages are the best protection.

Transitional lease or short-term rental: which should you choose?

For tourist stays of a few days, the short-term rental is the natural choice, with its own duties: the CIN code, police registration on Alloggiati Web and the tourist tax. When the guest stays for months for work or study, the transitional lease gives a better frame. The full set of short-let rules is in our guide to Italy’s short-term rental law, and Italian terms are explained in the short-term rental glossary.

How to manage a transitional lease with Maurice

Maurice is the AI agent that looks after your tenants for you, from the booking to the last rent payment:

• bookings from Uniplaces, HousingAnywhere and Spotahome arrive automatically, or from your PMS;
• documents: Maurice checks ID documents and collects the extra ones you ask for, such as proof of the temporary need, a residence permit or university enrolment;
• contract signing on request;
• monthly rent collected by card, with reminders to the tenant and late-payment alerts for you;
• 24/7 support in the tenant’s language, involving you only for repairs and decisions.

Every feature is on the page about mid-term rental management; for a fair comparison with platforms and other software, read our guide to the best mid-term rental software in Italy.