Letting to students, researchers and companies in Trieste: the leases

In Trieste the Comune's RUPA housing observatory estimates around 7,900 students from out of town, and for 2026/27 ARDiS, the regional student support agency, has 636 places in its residences in the city: fewer than one in ten. For students there is the student lease, from 6 to 36 months with a 10% cedolare (the flat tax on rent); for people working here on a fixed term, the temporary lease; for a company, the company let (foresteria), which for the Agenzia delle Entrate gets no cedolare.

Who is looking for a home in Trieste, and when?

Students. In 2024/25 the University of Trieste had 17,936 students enrolled on bachelor's and master's degrees, 73% from out of town, plus 547 PhD students.

Researchers. SISSA counts 289 PhD students and 141 researchers; ICTP, in its 2025 figures, 148 researchers across staff, consultants, long-term visiting scientists and postdocs. According to RUPA the institutes generally have no guest housing, and researchers look for a home both for weeks and months and for the long term.

When. ARDiS sets the calendar. In the 2026/27 call the provisional rankings for first-year housing places were expected on 16 September 2026; the details of the registered lease had to be entered by 13:00 on 21 October.

The market is there. According to RUPA, on OMI data, in 2023 university-related leases were 21.5% of those signed in the city, around 1,000, with the highest average rent of any lease type: €92.27/m² a year against an average of €87.63.

What do they ask for?

• A registered lease. For out-of-town status ARDiS wants a registered lease, in the name of the student or a member of their household (alone or jointly), of at least 10 months between 1 September 2026 and 30 September 2027, with rent of at least €150 a month excluding utilities; the home cannot be owned by the student's household. If the details are not online by 21 October, the student competes for the grant as a commuter.
• Furniture. The 2025 territorial agreement allows up to 22% more rent if the home is fully furnished; without a kitchen with oven, hob and fridge, there is no furniture uplift.
• Someone who says yes. Non-EU researchers are often refused a lease, RUPA notes. With a non-EU tenant there is one more duty: reporting the accommodation to the police authority within 48 hours, even with a registered lease, or face a fine of €500 to €3,500.

Which lease for whom?

• Enrolled on a degree or postgraduate course (PhD, master's, Erasmus included) in a municipality other than their own

  Lease: student lease

  Length: 6–36 months

  Cedolare: 10%

• Researcher or fixed-term employee

  Lease: temporary lease at regulated rent

  Length: 1–18 months

  Cedolare: 10%

• Someone staying longer

  Lease: 3+2 regulated rent

  Length: at least 3 years, plus a 2-year extension

  Cedolare: 10%

• Company housing an employee

  Lease: company let

  Cedolare: no, for the Agenzia delle Entrate

The 10% rate applies to regulated rent leases in provincial capitals such as Trieste: Law 431/1998 (art. 8) extends the regulated rent tax breaks to the student lease, and circular 8/E of 2017 extends the reduced rate to the temporary lease at regulated rent.

Students. One student, a group of students or the university support agency can sign. At the first expiry the lease renews for the same period, unless the student gives notice 1 to 3 months before. For serious reasons a student can withdraw with 3 months' notice, even just one of three: the lease carries on with the others. Under the 2025 agreement a replacement comes in only with your written consent, and you report the change of tenant to the Agenzia delle Entrate. Beyond 18 months the agreement allows up to 10% more.

Researchers. For someone on a fixed-term contract there is the temporary lease: the 2025 agreement lists among the needs a fixed-term employment or quasi-employment relationship («rapporto di lavoro subordinato o parasubordinato a tempo determinato») in a municipality other than their own. The need must be written into the lease and documented; the rent can go up by as much as 20%. A two-week school stays under 30 days: it is a short let, with the CIN code, reporting guests to the Questura within 24 hours and the tourist tax, which the Comune also applies to short lets, although since 16 December 2025 the regional text ties it to accommodation establishments alone.

Companies. In a company let the tenant is the company. For the Agenzia delle Entrate there is no cedolare if the tenant acts in the course of a business, even when the home is for employees. The Supreme Court (Cassazione) has passed the question to its First President for possible assignment to the joint chambers (Sezioni Unite; interlocutory order 30016 of 13 November 2025): ask your accountant whether a decision has come. That leaves income tax (IRPEF) with its surcharges, 2% registration tax, which the law splits equally between the parties (art. 8 of Law 392/1978), and stamp duty. The alternative is a lease in the employee's own name: with regulated rent, 10% cedolare.

The comparison of all the options is in the guide to choosing a lease; how the rent is calculated, in the regulated rent guide.

Which documents can you ask for?

Only the ones you need: the GDPR wants data that are "adequate, relevant and limited" to the purposes (art. 5).

• To sign: an ID document; for a non-EU citizen, the passport, whose details you also need for the police report.
• For the student lease: enrolment on the course and residence in another municipality.
• For the temporary lease: proof of the need, such as a fixed-term contract. If it would reveal health or sensitive data, the 2025 agreement requires a sworn self-declaration (dichiarazione sostitutiva).
• For ability to pay: with a student, the income of the guarantor; with a researcher, the employment contract or the grant.

Do not ask for a criminal record: under the GDPR (art. 10), data on convictions may be processed only under the control of a public authority or where a law allows it. If the lease is not signed, destroy the copies.

An example: a three-room flat for three students or a company?

Stated assumptions: 75 m² of conventional floor area in zone 2 of the 2025 agreement, middle band, fully furnished, energy class E (no change for the energy certificate); a 24-month student lease; cadastral income (rendita catastale) €700, category A/2; the home is not the "first building" notified to the Region for ILIA; your income, rent included, between €28,000 and €50,000.

The ceiling. 75 × 9.90 = €742.50 a month. The uplifts are added together (furniture +22%, length over 18 months +10%) and the 32% is applied once: €980.10. We set €900, €300 per student.

• Annual rent

  Three students, €900: €10,800

  Company, €1,100: €13,200

• Tax on the rent

  Three students, €900: 10% cedolare = €1,080

  Company, €1,100: 33% IRPEF on 95% (€12,540) = €4,138.20

• IRPEF surcharges

  Three students, €900: replaced by the cedolare

  Company, €1,100: 1.23% regional + 0.8% municipal on €12,540 = €254.56

• Registration tax

  Three students, €900: replaced by the cedolare

  Company, €1,100: 2% = €264, your half = €132

• ILIA (base 700 × 1.05 × 160 = €117,600)

  Three students, €900: 0.65% cut to 75% = €573.30

  Company, €1,100: 1.06% = €1,246.56

• Net

  Three students, €900: €9,146.70

  Company, €1,100: €7,428.68

With €200 a month less, the students leave you €1,718.02 a year more; to break even, the company would have to pay at least €1,318 a month. With the company there is also stamp duty, once at registration: €16 for every 4 pages, per copy. If the home is your first building notified to the Region, with the company ILIA falls to 0.70%.

The calculation leaves out your IRPEF deductions and the running costs: your accountant redoes it on your income.