Vacant houses, 8 million of them. Owners held back by arrears and uncertain return times

The climate of uncertainty drives landlords to defensive behaviour. Tenant screening is now generalised: verification of income capacity has become almost compulsory, often anticipated by tenants themselves. On the security front, 80% rely solely on the security deposit, which covers 2-3 monthly payments and is often inadequate compared to the risks. When critical issues emerge, the solutions remain partial: agreements, release with losses or lengthy court proceedings.
In this context, the choice not to rent is growing: many owners prefer to leave the property empty or put it to another use. It is not a logic of return, but of risk reduction.
After all, the majority of landlords are small landlords, often owning one or two properties. Only 29% have a fully economic approach to investing, while 36% acquired their properties through inheritance and 28% maintain an emotional attachment to their homes.
This fact changes the reading of the market: the choice of whether or not to rent depends mainly on the perceived level of security, rather than on yield. It is therefore not surprising that many owners prefer to give up renting.

But the nature of tenants is also changing. According to data from the SoloAffitti network, 3 out of 4 tenants consciously choose to rent, while 27% would have preferred to buy. It is no longer a transitory solution, but a response to more mobile lifestyles. Flexibility is the main attractive factor. The actual duration of leases is around 28 months, well below the formal contractual duration. The economic environment also has an impact: more than half of the tenants have increased their rental budget by more than 10 per cent. Yet, demand does not decrease and, in the presence of a limited supply, tends to prolong the stay in properties, further reducing availability.

43.6% of tenants rent as their main home, 32.6% for work, 18.7% for study and the remaining 4.75% for other reasons. In terms of composition, 25% of the tenants are single, 38.5% are childless couples, 24.6% are couples with children, while 11.8% concern situations of sharing between persons not belonging to the same household.

There is also a gradual increase in the average age of tenants, from 35 in 2024 to 37 in 2025. The proportion of under-25s is falling (from 21.7% to 17.1%) and, albeit slightly, that of 25-35 year olds (from 34.3% to 33.9%). On the other hand, tenants aged between 35 and 50 (from 29.6% to 33.1%) and those over 50 (from 14.4% to 15.8%) are growing, confirming an increasingly adult and structured demand.

On the rents front, the picture is more complex than a simple generalised growth. In 2025 the average in the cities will be around EUR 698 per month (+4% compared to 2024), but the average figure hides very different trends among the territories. Alongside cities in which rents continue to rise significantly - such as Genoa and Trieste (+11%), Ancona and Palermo (+7%), Bari (+5%) - there are signs of settling down and, in some cases, of correction (with average values such as Milan 1,152 euro, Bologna 879, Naples 906 and Turin 583).

The most obvious case is that of Milan, where there is a 10% drop: a figure that does not so much signal a structural inversion as a rebalancing phase after years of sustained growth and strong demand pressure. Rome, on the other hand, remains at high but more stable levels, with an average of around 1,019 euro per month (+2%). The variations also depend on the characteristics of the properties: the presence of a garage entails an average increase of 11% (around +80 euro), a parking space of 7% (around +50 euro), while an unfurnished property records a reduction of 9% (around -66 euro) and a partially furnished one of 5% (around -34 euro).

"The rental market is changing,' underlined Silvia Spronelli, CEO of SoloAffitti. 'Demand is growing, but supply remains static. To get it moving again we need to make renting more attractive to landlords, intervening on three levers: contract flexibility, taxation and security. We need formulas that are better suited to new housing needs, incentives to put vacant properties back on the market and, above all, definite timeframes for repossession in the event of delinquency. It is also necessary to incentivise the redevelopment of properties that are currently vacant: many owners do not put their homes on the market because they lack the resources to renovate them. Providing incentive mechanisms aimed at income generation, such as tax exemption on rents for a defined period and within pre-established ceilings, can be a concrete lever to bring these properties back on the market'.

"The discipline of leasing contracts for transitory use, envisaged by Law 431/98, is no longer fully adequate to current needs," stated Francesco La Commare, Fiaip deputy national vice-president. "In a market characterised by greater labour mobility and a growing demand for flexible housing solutions, it is necessary to introduce more simplicity and flexibility, while guaranteeing regulatory certainty and protection for the parties. We need to initiate a debate with the legislator to update the instrument and make it truly functional to today's market

"The housing emergency," concluded Gian Battista Baccarini, president of Confassociazioni Real Estate, "does not depend on a lack of houses, but on an offer that is not activated due to a lack of confidence. Limiting short-term rentals is not the solution: what is needed is a national strategy to make medium to long-term rentals more secure. Today, many landlords give up renting due to the fear of arrears and the uncertain timeframe for regaining possession of the property. It is therefore necessary to ensure legal certainty, faster procedures and adequate safeguards, in order to bring unused properties back on the market today.