Renting in Italy: all the costs to expect

Renting in Italy – whether it’s a house, flat, or just a room – can be challenging if you’re not familiar with Italian rental regulations. As in every country, being well-informed can help you ensure you’re doing everything legally, in addition to saving money and avoiding scams.

Knowing your rights and duties as a tenant makes the whole “renting in Italy” experience a lot easier and less scary. Let’s dive into everything you need to know about the costs of renting a flat in Italy.

Looking for a rental in Italy

If you’re new to the country and you don’t know many people, renting through an agency is often the easiest solution. It helps you find a place relatively quickly and is usually safer than dealing directly with private landlords.

The downside is that agencies typically charge a pretty high service fee (typically one month’s rent plus tax).

If you’re not keen on paying agency fees, don’t worry, there are other options:

use online rental platforms like Uniplaces, Idealista, etc.
post in a local Facebook group (you can check groups such as “appartamenti in affitto + name of the city” or “stanze in affitto + name of the city”)
rent directly from private landlords (but watch out for scams!)

If you’re coming to Italy to study, you can also contact your university’s student office. They often have good contacts and listings for apartments available for academic stays.

Rental costs in Italy: deposit and service fees

Once you’ve found the perfect apartment or room to rent in Italy, you will have to pay a deposit to secure it. Security deposits normally range from 1 to 3 months’ rent.

Be aware of scams:

never pay the security deposit or the agency fees in cash and/or without seeing the place first;
request a receipt for your deposit payment;
take photos and videos of everything when you move in and check that all the appliances work properly;
keep all documentation related to the property’s condition at move-in.

Rental costs in Italy: rent

Typically, when you enter a new house, apartment or room you will have to pay:

the agency fee
the deposit
the first month of rent

In most cases, rent is paid at the beginning of each month, which sometimes doesn’t align with salary payments, since many Italian companies pay salaries around the 10th–15th of every month.

Rental costs in Italy: utility bills

In Italy, electricity and gas bills (bollette) are typically paid monthly or every two months, depending on the contract.

Water billing varies by region and municipality. Some areas issue bills quarterly or semi-annually, in others more often.

To give you an idea of rental costs in Italy, for a small/medium apartment in Italy in 2025, typical monthly bills are approximately:

Electricity: €70 – €120
Water: €20 – €50
Gas: €80 – €130 (higher in cold months, lower in summer).

Bear in mind that they can vary widely depending on the building’s insulation, heating, climate zone, local tariffs, etc.

If you’re renting an entire apartment or house, you may also need to transfer utility contracts into your name. In Italy, this process is called a “voltura”, and it involves notifying each utility provider (water, electricity, gas) about the change of contract holder. The fee varies depending on the provider, usually ranging from €30 to €80 per service.

Rental costs in Italy: waste collection fees

In Italy each municipality (comune) also charges for the TARI (the Italian waste collection tax).

Its amount is set annually by each municipality, based on estimated costs for the waste service. The calculation generally depends on two components:

1. A fixed part, often linked to the area (square meters) of the property.

2. A variable part, which depends on the number of occupants and the presumed amount of waste generated.

TARI is paid in multiple installments (2 or 3 payments per year).

For instance, in Rome (2025), TARI is typically paid in three instalments:

First instalment by May 31
Second by September 30
Third by November 30

Rental costs in Italy: building service charges

In addition to all the costs listed above, those renting an apartment in Italy also need to pay a monthly fee of spese condominiali.

This is usually a flat-rate (ranging from €40 to €300), including the costs of:

cleaning of common areas (such as stairs, elevators, hallways);
building maintenance;
heating (if the building has central heating);
garden maintenance.

Knowing all the rental costs in Italy beforehand will help you plan your budget and avoid unpleasant surprises. Keep in mind that rental prices vary widely across the country: renting a flat in Rome or Milan is considerably more expensive than in smaller cities or towns.

If you’re moving to Italy to study, check out our guide and feel free to contact us for personalized support.