Letting to students in Trieste: the university lease, rent and tax deductions

Two possible leases

University students have a lease of their own. It is provided for by the law on leases (art. 5, paragraphs 2 and 3 of Law 431/1998), governed by the ministerial decree of 16 January 2017 (art. 3), and in Trieste both agreements take it up: art. 4 of the 2025 one and Title C of the 2022 one. It is written on the decree’s standard contract, Annex C.

For someone on a course that is not a university course (a course with an end date, a traineeship, an internship, vocational training), the transitional lease is used instead: in the 2025 agreement these are the tenant’s needs number 9 and 10.

Who can sign it

• The tenant is enrolled on a degree or postgraduate course: master’s, doctorate, specialisation, advanced training. The 2025 agreement also names Erasmus.
• They study in a municipality other than the one where they are resident. The decree requires it, and the 2025 agreement repeats it.
• The lease can be signed by a single student, a group of students, or a regional student-support agency (azienda per il diritto allo studio).

So a student resident in Trieste cannot use this lease. A doubtful case is someone staying less than six months, for example for an exchange semester. For them the student lease is too long, because it lasts at least six months; and in the 2025 transitional lease the study need covers study that does not fall under the university leases (the 2022 agreement only says “a move for study”). The texts do not settle the doubt: before signing, ask the association that certifies the lease.

Term, renewal and leaving

• The lease lasts from 6 months to 3 years.
• At the first expiry it renews by itself for the same period, unless the student gives notice at least one month and no more than three months beforehand (art. 1 of the standard contract).
• Before expiry the student can leave for serious reasons, by registered letter at least three months in advance (art. 9).
• If there is more than one tenant, one of them can leave on their own: the lease continues with the others, and the one who leaves remains liable, jointly with them, for the months they lived there.
• To bring in a new student in place of the one leaving, under the 2025 agreement the request is written by the original tenants and the newcomer, who accepts all the clauses. The landlord, if they agree, accepts it in writing and notifies the Agenzia delle Entrate, the Italian Revenue Agency.

The rent

The rent is calculated as for the other regulated-rent leases: zone, weighted floor area, band, with the table of the agreement applied (you will find them in tables). Two agreements are in force in Trieste. As we read the texts, for a new lease you choose which one to use: you use it in full, and the certificate of compliance (attestazione di rispondenza) is issued by an association that signed it or has adhered to it (2022 or 2025 agreement). The increases differ:

• 2025 agreement: the increases for all leases apply (furnishing up to 22%, special value up to 8%, the class shown in the APE, that is the energy performance certificate), and so does the mandatory 10% reduction for class G. On top, up to 10% if the lease lasts more than 18 months (art. 9.4). The increase for homes returning from short lets, reserved for standard leases, does not apply, nor does the one for terms longer than three years, which a student lease never reaches.
• 2022 agreement: furnished up to 15%. For properties of special value (listed, or registered in the cadastre as A/1, A/8, A/9) up to 15%, and not up to 20% as in the other leases (Title C, point 5). There is no transitional increase.

Letting by the room

You can also let just part of the home: the standard contract has a version for a “portion” of the property, with shared services and spaces. The rent is not calculated room by room. You start from the rent of the whole flat and divide it “in proportion to the floor area of each portion let, also taking shared parts and services into account” (2025 agreement, art. 6). The 2022 agreement has the same rule.

How much the shared parts weigh, the 2025 text does not say. The 2022 application form for the certificate asks for two figures: the square metres of the room for exclusive use and those of the shared parts. Before signing, ask whoever issues the certificate how they count them. Our calculator gives the range for the whole flat: that is the starting point for dividing it.

The landlord’s taxes

For tax purposes the student lease is a regulated-rent lease, and Trieste is one of the municipalities with high housing pressure:

• flat-rate tax (cedolare secca) at 10% instead of 21%: the tax at a fixed rate on the rent that replaces income tax (IRPEF), the local surcharges, the registration tax and the stamp duty. The Italian Revenue Agency states that it also applies to student leases (circular 26/E of 2011);
• landlords who stay under income tax get the 30% reduction of the income on which tax is paid, and the registration tax on 70% of the rent. The law takes these discounts away from transitional leases, but not from student leases (art. 8, paragraph 3 of Law 431/1998; from 2027 art. 39, paragraph 8 of the new Consolidated Income Tax Act);
• ILIA reduced to 75%, with the certificate of compliance attached to the ILIA declaration, but not for portions.

If the lease is not drawn up with the assistance of the associations, the flat-rate tax and the income-tax and registration-tax discounts require the certificate of compliance; for the reduced ILIA, Trieste’s regulation requires it without distinguishing between assisted and non-assisted leases. The sums are in cedolare secca and ILIA.

The student’s deductions

A student studying away from home can deduct 19% of the rent paid from their taxes, on a maximum of €2,633 a year: at most €500.27. This is provided for by the Consolidated Income Tax Act (TUIR, art. 15, paragraph 1, letter i-sexies; from 2027 art. 14, paragraph 1, letter z) of the new Consolidated Act). The conditions:

• the university is in a municipality other than the one of residence, at least 100 kilometres away and in a different province: both are needed;
• the home is in the university’s municipality or in a neighbouring one;
• the rent is paid by bank transfer or another traceable method.

If you let to students and want to know which lease to use, which agreement and how much to ask, we can look at it together.