Ending a lease in Trieste: notice, renewal and the deposit

At the first expiry of a 4+4 or a 3+2 you can get your home back only on one of the grounds in article 3 of Law 431/1998, written into the notice and sent at least 6 months before. At the next expiry a registered letter is enough, again 6 months before; if nobody writes, the lease renews. At the handover, the inventory and the photos decide how much of the deposit goes back to the tenant.

The deadlines: who can do what, and with how much notice?

• Lease4+4Whenafter 4 years

  notice on a ground in art. 3, at least 6 months before

  If nobody writes: renews for 4 years

• Lease4+4Whenafter 8 years

  registered letter at least 6 months before, for new terms or not to renew; the tenant can do the same

  If nobody writes: renews on the same terms

• Lease3+2Whenafter 3 years

  notice on a ground in art. 3, at least 6 months before

  If nobody writes: extended by 2 years

• Lease3+2Whenafter 5 years

  registered letter at least 6 months before, as above; the tenant can do the same

  If nobody writes: renews for 2 years, and so on at every expiry

• LeaseTemporaryWhenat expiry

  nothing: it ends without notice

  If nobody writes: ends

• LeaseStudentsWhenfirst expiry

  nothing: the student decides, with notice 1 to 3 months before

  If nobody writes: renews for the same period

At the second expiry of a 4+4 whoever receives the registered letter must reply within 60 days; if there is no reply or no agreement, the lease ends.

In a 4+4 and a 3+2 the tenant can withdraw at any time for serious reasons, with 6 months' notice; if the lease allows free withdrawal, with a registered letter at least 6 months before. In a student lease the notice for serious reasons is 3 months.

In regulated rent leases ISTAT indexation is at most 75% of the index; under the cedolare any rent update, ISTAT included, is suspended. Which lease to choose for the next tenant is in our guide to leases.

Which grounds are enough not to renew at the first expiry?

Only those in article 3, and the ground must be written into the notice. For a private landlord the main ones are:

• the home is needed by you, your spouse, parents, children or relatives up to the second degree, to live or work in;
• you want to sell it and own no other residential property besides the one you live in; the tenant has a right of first refusal;
• the building needs complete renovation or demolition, or is badly damaged: you need the building permit;
• the tenant has another free and suitable home in the same municipality, or does not live in the home continuously without good reason.

A wrong notice is expensive. If you get the home back with an unlawful notice, you owe the tenant at least 36 months of the last rent: at €700 a month, €25,200. If within 12 months of getting it back you do not use it for the ground you gave, the tenant can choose between returning on the same terms and the 36 months' rent.

At the first expiry the law asks you to give the tenant a "communication"; at the second expiry, instead, it expressly requires a registered letter.

Why does it pay to move early in Trieste?

Here eviction at the end of a lease weighs more than in the rest of Italy. In 2025, in the province of Trieste, 116 of the 277 eviction orders were for the end of the lease (finita locazione): 42%, against 23% across Italy (Ministry of the Interior figures).

If the tenant stays on after expiry, they owe the rent until they hand the home back, plus any further damage.

The security deposit: how much, what interest, when does it come back?

• It cannot exceed 3 months' rent (art. 11 of Law 392/1978).
• It earns legal interest, to be paid to the tenant at the end of every year: 2% in 2025, 1.60% from 1 January 2026. The 2027 rate, if it changes, comes out in a decree by 15 December 2026.
• In the regulated rent model leases it cannot be used to pay the last months' rent, and it is returned at the end of the lease after checking the state of the home and the tenant's obligations. In temporary and student leases the interest is paid at the end.

An example: interest and a handover with deductions

Assumptions: a 3+2 regulated rent lease that began on 1 January 2025, rent of €700 a month, a deposit of 3 months, that is €2,100. The tenant withdraws for serious reasons, with 6 months' notice, and hands the home back on 31 December 2026.

1. Interest: €2,100 × 2% = €42.00 for 2025, already paid at the end of that year; €2,100 × 1.60% = €33.60 for 2026.
2. Handover inventory, compared with the move-in one and with the photos: the broken kitchen cupboard door, intact at move-in, is €180 on a quote; the unpaid service charge balance is €95.
3. Refund: €2,100 − €180 − €95 = €1,825, plus €33.60 of interest: €1,858.60.

A lease ended early must then be notified to the Agenzia delle Entrate within 30 days: €67 of registration tax, or just the notice if you are under the cedolare.

What can be deducted, and what cannot?

The rule is in article 1590 of the Civil Code: the tenant returns the home in the condition in which they received it, as described together, except for wear from normal use. They are not liable for ageing. If there is no description, they are presumed to have received it in good condition; an inventory with photos avoids the argument.

Deductions are solid if the inventory documents them, and more so if the tenant signs it. In regulated rent leases, before going to court, either party can ask for the joint negotiation and conciliation committee: if the other party agrees, it concludes within 60 days. Under the 2025 Trieste agreement it costs nothing apart from document expenses. The lease template also checks the deposit cap.