Buying a second home in South Tyrol as a non-resident
The short answer is yes, but not to everything. The line does not run between buyers: it runs between properties, and it is written in the land register extract.
There is no ban on non-residents
Start here, because it is the commonest misunderstanding: no rule forbids a non-resident Italian or European citizen from buying property in the province of Bolzano. What exists is a restriction attached to particular properties, and anyone without the requirements cannot live in them — wherever they are resident today.
So the useful question is not “can I buy in South Tyrol?” but “is this property unrestricted?”. The first has no useful answer; the second does, it sits in sheet C of the land register extract, and it takes a day to get.
Why it is harder in tourist municipalities
Provincial law 9/2018 introduced a simple mechanism: where second homes exceed a share of the housing stock, new or converted dwellings have to be reserved for residents. The stated aim is to keep the people who work in a village able to live in it, in valleys where the tourist market had lifted prices out of their reach.
The list of municipalities and hamlets concerned is kept and updated by the Province, and it changes: which is why we give you the source rather than a number. For anyone looking for a second home in Val Gardena, Val Badia or the upper Pusteria, the consequence is that new build is largely out of reach and the search moves to unrestricted existing stock.
What remains available
Existing dwellings with no restriction entered against them — most of the stock built before the rules came fully into force. They are spread across the whole province, tourist areas included, and are identified by exclusion: if sheet C carries no entry, the property is unrestricted.
This is also why, in South Tyrol, a listing that says nothing about the restriction should always be checked and never assumed. It need not be bad faith: many owners are not certain themselves. But the check costs one land register extract, and skipping it can cost a deposit.
The closed farm estate, a separate matter
If the property you like is a maso, this is a different game. The closed farm estate is an indivisible agricultural holding governed by its own provincial law, and transferring one goes through the local closed-farm commission. That is not a formality: it is a procedure whose outcome cannot be assumed.
Anyone looking for a holiday home who falls for a maso needs to know this before getting attached, and to involve a local notary from day one. The guide on selling an inherited property explains the mechanics from the other side.
In short
- Get the land register extract before any offer
- Read sheet C: is the restriction entered or not
- Do not trust a listing that never mentions the restriction
- Check on the provincial source whether the municipality is affected
- Know that new build in the tourist valleys is often restricted
- Treat closed farm estates as a separate matter, with a local notary
The questions we are asked most
I am a German or Austrian citizen: does that change anything?
No. The residents' restriction looks at the tie to the territory — residence or work in the province — not at citizenship, and a citizen of another EU country buys on the same terms as an Italian one. The differences you will meet are tax and banking ones, not questions of the right to buy.
Can I let the home I buy to tourists?
If the property is unrestricted, tourist letting is a question of its own rules — planning, municipal and tax — to be checked in the specific municipality before counting on it. If the restriction is there, the answer is no and it is not negotiable. Two different checks, both before the offer.
How do I search only for unrestricted properties?
By telling the agency as your first requirement, before the area and before the budget. It is the single piece of information that narrows a search most, and an agency working here knows it property by property. If viewings are proposed without anybody asking, ask yourself.
Official sources
Note
This guide is general information written by an estate agency. It does not replace advice from a notary, an accountant or the surveyor handling the property. The rules cited are those in force at the date of publication.
Read next
Restricted housing in South Tyrol: who is allowed to buy
This comes before the budget: part of the housing on sale here cannot be lived in by just anyone. Here is how to work out whether it concerns you.
Seven checks to make before you buy
None of these checks needs an expert and none costs much. Together they account for almost every purchase that ends badly.
What buying a home costs beyond the price
The taxes on the deed are the buyer's, and they are not calculated on the agreed price but on a cadastral value, almost always lower. Here is the real sum, item by item.
Looking for a home in South Tyrol?
Tell us what you are looking for — area, size, budget, whether the dwelling has to be free of the residents' restriction. We will flag what comes in, often before it reaches the portals.
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