Cassation

Unsuitable house: stop the replication of the 'first home' discount on the new deed

OK for the relief only if it has not already been used for the pre-owned property. The Supreme Court also clarifies that a dwelling may be 'unsuitable' for objective or buyer-related reasons

by Angelo Busani

23 September 2025

4' min read

4' min read

Ownership of a house that is 'unfit' for habitation does not prevent the purchase of another house with the 'first home' tax relief, provided that the unfit house was not itself purchased with the same relief.

This is the state of play on the controversial issue of the 'prepossession' of an unsuitable house. A point that emerges from Supreme Court decision 24478 of 3 September, the reading of which leads to the conviction that in the jurisprudence of legitimacy a finally stable and clear orientation has been formed in this intricate matter, on which there has been debate ever since the Supreme Court began to give relevance to the unsuitability of the prepossessed home (with decisions 18128/2009 and 100/2010, commented on in the Sole 24 Ore of 12 and 16 January 2010).

The judges' ruling

Judgement 24478/2025 refers to a case in which the first home allowance was contested by the Inland Revenue Agency with reference to the purchase made by a person who already owned (in the same municipality) another house, consisting of a single bedroom measuring 12 square metres and a living room measuring 18 square metres, which was deemed 'unsuitable' in view of the birth of twins.

The Revenue's objection was based on the observation that the law does not allow a taxpayer who is already the owner of a house located in the same municipality as the property being sold to benefit from the 'prima casa' benefit.

The Cassazione rejects this reasoning, stating that ownership of an unsuitable dwelling must be equated with the situation of a taxpayer who does not own any dwelling. Therefore, if the taxpayer owns an unsuitable dwelling in a municipality, that ownership does not prevent him from buying another dwelling with the first home relief. But on one condition: the house already owned by the taxpayer and unsuitable must not have been purchased with the relief. In this hypothesis, in fact, one cannot obtain the tax benefit by making a new purchase, unless one sells the unsuitable house before buying another house or at the latest within the second year following this new purchase.

Unsuitability and bare ownership

The reason why the pre-possessed and unsuitable dwelling prevents the new facilitated purchase, if it has been purchased with the prima casa facilitation, is the result of a subtle argument: the relief that the law grants the prima casa facilitation also to the purchase of nude ownership of the property, i.e. of a right whose owner does not have the power to use the property that is the subject of it (power that belongs to the usufructuary). Therefore, according to the Supreme Court:

if Titius owns a house bought with relief (wherever located), it is irrelevant whether the house is suitable or unsuitable for habitation;
if, on the other hand, Titius owns a house not bought with the relief (for example, because inherited or donated), its unsuitability to be inhabited becomes relevant, since it is precisely a situation to be equated with that in which Titius does not own any house in the municipality where the newly purchased house is located.

Judgment 24478 should also have resolved the issue of theconcept of 'unsuitability', as it has been debated in the past whether it is an objective concept (e.g.: house uninhabitable for structural reasons) or a subjective one (e.g.: house uninhabitable due to a large increase in the number of household members).

The Court of Cassation now tells us that the pre-possession of a building that 'for whatever reason' is 'unsuitable, by reason of its small size, to be used' as a dwelling does not prevent the new facilitated purchase, thus using an expression from which the relevance of both objective and subjective unsuitability seems to be inferred.

The position of the IRS

The ball is now in the court of the Inland Revenue Agency, which has developed, over time, an ambivalent attitude: alongside a clear closure (Circular 1/E/1994, Resolutions 311657/1989 and 86/E/2010 and answer to interpello 378/2019) and an exceptional opening, due to the occurrence of an earthquake (Resolution 107/E/2017), there is to be noted that:

in the instructions to the declaration of inheritance (orders 728796/2019 and 47335/2025 of the Director of Revenue) it is written that if the heir, at the time of the opening of the succession, "finds himself in a situation of objective unsuitability (inagibility) for the residential use of the property owned for which he has already benefited from the 'prima casa' relief, he may request to benefit again from the 'prima casa' relief on the property for residential use that has been inherited";
in the answer to interpello 956-2920/2021 (relating to the case of the "Torre dei Moro" skyscraper burnt down in Milan on 29 August 2021) it is stated that the facilitated purchase is not hindered by the fact that the purchaser is already the owner of a flat, bought with the "prima casa" benefit, if it is the "prepossession" of a house objectively unsuitable for home use.

At a glance: the facilitation requirements

House Location

The house to be purchased must be located in the territory of the municipality in which the purchaser:

has his residence
or establishes his residence within eighteen months of purchase
or carries on business

Impossession in the municipality

In the deed of purchase the purchaser must declare that he/she is not the sole owner, or joint owner with his/her spouse, of the rights of ownership, usufruct, use and habitation of another house in the territory of the municipality in which the house to be purchased is located.

Impossession throughout Italy

In the deed of purchase, the purchaser must declare that he/she is not the owner, not even by shares, including in a legal community, throughout the national territory, of the rights of ownership, usufruct, use, dwelling and bare ownership of another house purchased by him/her or his/her spouse with the 'prima casa' relief. If this condition is not met, the purchaser may still make the purchase benefiting from the 'prima casa' relief provided that, within two years of the new purchase, he sells the 'prima casa' he previously owned.

The resident abroad

If the purchaser moved abroad for work reasons and has resided or carried out its activity in Italy for at least five years, the house must be located in the territory of the municipality of birth or in the municipality where the purchaser had its residence or carried out its activity before moving abroad.