Building amnesty, conditions and limits: latest news

In which cases can you obtain amnesty for building violations in 2024? Here are the regulations and the latest rulings.
In the past we were used to periodic building amnesty measures, a way to remedy small and large abuses, as in the case of works carried out in breach of the project.
In reality, the last building amnesty dates back to 2003, also known as the third building amnesty, Law no.
326 of 2003, which converted Legislative Decree no.
269 of 2003.
Here are the cases in which this law can still be used to remedy abuses and the limits encountered when seeking a 2024 building amnesty.
Building amnesty, conditions and limits: latest news Which building abuses can be remedied with the third amnesty Limits to the third building amnesty Limits to the third building amnesty: cubic volume How much does a building amnesty cost? Which building abuses can be remedied with the third amnesty Law 326 of 2003 is called the "third building amnesty" because it is the third act of a trilogy of measures for remediation of building abuses.
The first are: Law n.
47 of 1985 and Law no.
724 of 1994.
Currently only the provisions of the third building amnesty apply.
The same allow for the remediation of: construction interventions on properties without a license or building permits; works carried out in non-compliance with what is foreseen in the licenses and concessions; building interventions based on annulled, lapsed or ineffective licenses or concessions.
It is not always possible to access the third building amnesty, in fact time windows must be made available for requests.
Limits to the third building amnesty As regards the limits, it is necessary to take into consideration article 32, paragraph 25, of law 326 of 2003.
This provides that the third building amnesty can only be applied to illegal constructions carried out by 31 March 2003.
ratio is logical: in the case of an amnesty without an "expiry date", everyone would have been able to build properties with building violations and then remediate them subsequently, all value would have been removed from building concessions and licenses and there would have been room for any abuse.
However, there are further limits in the case of landscape restrictions; in fact, if the property is located in an area subject to landscape restrictions there can be no amnesty regardless of the date by which the illegal works were carried out.
There are only two exceptions to that rule; the landscape restriction placed after the abuse itself was carried out; pre-existing landscape restriction but the need to condone only violations that can be classified as formal.
However, it should be underlined that this rule does not have absolute value because the law of the Lazio Region (n.
12 of 2004, which in article 3, paragraph 1, letter B) established that in the case of landscape constraints, building amnesty is not possible even in the event that the landscape restriction was placed after the abuse was carried out.
It is therefore a more restrictive rule than the national one.
This provision was confirmed by sentence 18077 of the Lazio Regional Administrative Court of 1 December 2023.
This implies that before requesting a building amnesty it is a good idea to check whether in your Region there are any restrictions on the third building amnesty compared to national legislation.
Along the same lines is a ruling of the Council of State dated 5 December 2023 n.10512 which confirmed the rejection of an amnesty application.
In the case in question, a room used as a garage had been built in an area subject to landscape restrictions and was built in the total absence of building permits.
read also Fraud Super bonuses and building bonuses, tax assessments even after 8 years from the end of the works Limits to the third building amnesty: cubic volume The landscape restriction does not represent the only limit to access to the third building amnesty in 2024.
Ruling 694/2024 of the Court of Cassation, highlighted the importance of respecting a double volume limit: 750 cubic meters for each housing unit; 3,000 cubic meters for the entire construction; 30% compared to the initial structure in case of expansion.
Even in this case, however, a restrictive interpretation applies.
In fact, many believed that by dividing the work (in any case smaller than 3,000 cubic metres, but larger than 750 cubic metres) it was possible to fall within the limit of 750 cubic meters per residential unit.
The Court of Cassation in the cited sentence reiterated that if the building belongs entirely to the same entity, the limit of 750 cubic meters must be respected by the entire real estate complex even if divided into several real estate units.
The rule aims to avoid circumvention of the rules on building amnesty.
How much does a building amnesty cost? Naturally, the building amnesty has a cost.
Since the beginning of this provision, one of the objectives was to raise cash and consequently one cannot think that the amnesty is a gift.
The cost varies from 60 euros to 150 euros per square meter depending on the type of abuse.
The concession fees must be paid in advance to the municipality according to the criteria indicated in table D attached to the provision.
The first installment cannot be less than 1,700 euros and in the event that the total cost of the amnesty is less than this figure, the amount must be paid in a single payment.
However, it should be remembered that it is currently not possible to access the 2024 building amnesty as the deadlines for joining are closed.
The sentences, although recent, refer to amnesties requested when it was still possible to obtain the relief.