Housing, Salvini: 6,000 illegally occupied homes cleared. Aim is to suspend IMU in inland areas

Salvini went on to acknowledge that ‘Confedilizia is a key partner in continuing to work in this very direction’ and thanked the confederation for its work: ‘Thank you for always supporting families and small property owners.’

In his subsequent speech at Pontida Giovani, Salvini sent out a message: ‘The League can only win if it is strong, united and free, from north to south.’ ‘Fiscal federalism and autonomy are achievements that have now become a reality after 36 Pontida events. It takes courage, unity, determination and patience, and we must never give up. Never let success go to your head when the going is good, and never lose heart when it’s time to roll up your sleeves.”

‘If I am here and you are here tonight,’ it is thanks to ‘a courageous visionary who restored dignity and pride to a people. Umberto Bossi, Roberto Maroni, who took up the baton at a difficult time; in recent years, with all due humility, Matteo Salvini; and in years to come, someone else.” And the Deputy Prime Minister added, “The strength of the League does not lie in individuals, nor in its leaders, nor in its ministers and MPs; it lies in you – those of you who pay for the coach to come to Pontida, the hotel and the camper van to come to Pontida, and your lunch and dinner.”

Tommaso Foti, the Minister for European Policies, also spoke at the Confedilizia conference in Piacenza: ‘The problem with housing is not short-term lettings. In New York, measures were taken to tackle them, and the number of properties available to people wanting to rent a flat did not increase – only hotel costs went up.” According to Foti, “not only is this an issue which, in my view, falls outside the scope of Article 114 of the Consolidated Act on the Functioning of the European Union, but it also fails to take account of the specific circumstances of individual countries,” Foti continued – ‘At least on green buildings there is a directive, which must be transposed by Member States with flexibility; with the regulation, this flexibility is lost.’ According to the Minister, ‘if Europe wanted to do something, it could make funds available for affordable housing. In Italia, we have reached an agreement between the government and the regions to allocate a portion of the cohesion funds specifically to housing’.” ‘I think Europe’s intention to shift a significant portion of the tax burden onto property is clear, because unlike capital, which can be taken out of the country or even abroad, property remains fixed to the land,’ he concluded.

“I have the feeling that, at least as regards the national clause in the European regulation, we are all in agreement,” continued Foti, referring to the provision that allows Member States to adopt measures different from those laid down at EU level in order to protect national interests. Then, addressing the other politicians at the table – including Enrico Costa, leader of the Forza Italia group in the Chamber of Deputies, and Raffaella Paita, leader of the Italia Viva group in the Senate – he added: ‘Precisely because I am going to Brussels on Tuesday, if the parliamentary group leaders wish to present the government with a resolution – irrespective of the committees’ opinions – which specifically addresses short-term lettings and sets out the government’s commitment to champion the national clause during the forthcoming European debate, I can already assure you that the government will accept the resolution in this regard with applause.”

On tax relief for homeowners, Foti indicated that ‘we will be able to determine the measure in light of this now historic date in the coming days’, when Istat is due to publish the final figures on the 2025 deficit, on 22 September, “to see whether we are at 3.1 per cent or 2.9 per cent” of GDP, a fact that “will obviously mobilise different resources within the budget bill”.

‘We have one proposal in particular’ ahead of the forthcoming budget, namely ‘the extension of the flat-rate tax on rents to the non-residential sector’. This is an issue on which “we know that the government is working on, and Deputy Minister Leo is working on, assessing how this should be handled – as with a thousand other sectors and requests – with regard to budgetary issues. However, it is something we strongly believe in, and we are also working on it with trade associations, Confcommercio foremost among them.’ This was emphasised by the president of Confedilizia, Giorgio Spaziani Testa, during the conference in Piacenza.