The ‘Piano Casa’ scheme is now open to students and law enforcement officers: here are the benefits

The Housing Plan has just cleared the hurdle of its first reading in the Chamber of Deputies and is now racing towards a second reading, which is already being tightly controlled to meet the date circled in red on the calendar: on 6 July, the decree must be passed into law, or it will lapse. And whilst the government is on the hunt for available public properties to include in the programme, new opportunities are opening up for certain groups, thanks to the amendments approved by the Chamber of Deputies’ Environment Committee. At the forefront are students and law enforcement officers, who are set to benefit from new concessions under the programme.

University students are among the first beneficiaries of the Housing Plan. From the outset, they have been among the priority beneficiaries following the failure of the NRRP, which did little to address the shortage of accommodation in Italia. Article 1, paragraph 2, provides a fast-track scheme for young people studying away from home, listing the housing needs of ‘young people and university students’ as a priority, alongside those of workers living away from home, young couples and separated parents. The legislation thus makes it clear, right from the general framework of the measure, that a proportion of the new housing policies must be directed towards those studying away from their home town. But that is not all. The measures are structured on several levels.

The first concerns direct support for rent. Article 4-ter, introduced during the committee stage, reallocates funding to the Fund for the accommodation of university students living away from home, established by the 2021 Budget Act. The allocation is increased by €8.5 million for 2026. The fund is intended for students enrolled at state universities who live away from their family home and covers the cost of their rent. The eligibility criteria remain those already set out in current legislation: specifically, a household ISEE not exceeding 20,000 euros; enrolment at a state university; residence in a municipality other than that in which the rented property is located; and no receipt of other public housing benefits. The eligibility criteria include merit-based conditions linked to the number of credits earned.

A second line of action, on the other hand, concerns the housing supply. Article 11, paragraph 4-bis, introduced in the Chamber of Deputies, assigns Invitalia support functions within the framework of activities aimed at state co-financing for the construction, renovation and acquisition of accommodation and halls of residence for university students. The aim is to accelerate the creation of new beds and the refurbishment of student accommodation. To carry out these activities, Invitalia will operate under a dedicated agreement, and the remuneration for these activities will be funded up to a limit of 1 per cent of the annual resources allocated to the measures provided for under Law 338 of 2000 on university student accommodation.

Students will also be able to benefit indirectly from the social housing and integrated housing measures set out in the decree. Article 2(3) stipulates that funded proposals must help to meet the housing needs identified in Article 1(2), including those of university students, through rent controls set below the rates normally applied in the area. Added to this is the section on integrated housing governed by Article 9. The programmes may be aimed at the so-called ‘grey band’ and may also include students living away from home, with properties offered at prices or rents reduced by 33 per cent compared to market values and subject to a controlled residential use restriction for at least thirty years.