Italy Relocation: What You Need to Know

Posted by: Laura Roberts, Client Services Manager

Renowned for its arts and cultural treasures, as well as beautiful landscapes and delicious food, Italy is often on people’s list of ‘must visit’ countries. Yet, it does present a number of potential challenges for international assignees relocating there, including housing, transportation and language. Our latest Relocation Country Guide on Italy, produced in conjunction with Cartus’ destination service provider, Vinelli and Scotto, takes a look at these challenges and offers best practice advice on how to overcome them.

What International Assignees Need To Know When Relocating to Italy

It’s a Landlord’s Market

The Italian rental market is landlord-driven, so there’s little room for negotiation. Most properties are leased as viewed and in areas where demand is high, landlords are often unwilling to meet tenant requests.

Top Tip! Signing a lease can take up to a month or longer, so be sure to build this possible delay into your relocation schedule.

Setting Housing Budgets

Many properties are let unfurnished and organisations should be mindful of extra costs associated with these housing options. Before the home search begins, decide whether the assignee or your organisation is responsible for the cost of household goods shipments or renting furniture for the property.

Top Tip! Italy’s high cost of amenities, particularly gas and electricity, should be considered when setting housing allowances. 

Transportation

Major cities including Rome, Milan, Naples, and Turin have extensive metro and bus services, although the standards of each city’s public transport network can vary. For drivers, the road conditions are well developed and include motorway and toll roads. Although assignees should be aware that local drivers in major cities do not necessarily follow traffic rules and can adopt quite an aggressive and sometimes dangerous style of driving.

Top Tip! To ensure a smoother settling-in process, consider providing assignees with a car and driver for the first week of the relocation to allow them to get used to road and traffic conditions.

Learning the Language

Language can be one of the biggest challenges for assignees moving to Italy. All transportation, road and building signs are in Italian, and English speakers are rather limited, even in major cities.

Top Tip! We recommend language training for anyone moving to Italy. Learning even basic words and phrases will make daily tasks like shopping or paying bills far easier.

For a more detailed review of Italy, read the Cartus Italy Relocation Country Guide and view our Resource Hub for information on other major locations worldwide.