illegal buildings finally something is being done

Actually Adriatica, the deadline for registering rural buildings as urban has been extended to 31/3/2011 very recently due to the number still to be registered being so high and the workload being enormous for Geometras. See here: http://www.agenziaterritorio.it/?id=6052 If the building shows on the list of 'ghost' buildings at the land registry (you can do a search) here: http://www.agenziaterritorio.it/?id=2112 If the building is not registered by this date then the Agenzia del Territorio can survey it and register it and send the owner the bill. Obviously they will register as they see fit which might not correspond with your requirements. A way round it is that you can declare to the Agenzia del Territorio that the accatastamento is 'in processo' in the course of being done and this will buy you some time. Apparently your geometra should have a form to do this. There is a nice little table explaining it here (Italian only I'm afraid): Il Sole 24 Ore

Thanks for the info both of you. Is there provision for old properties which have been handed down through generations, which might have a number of inheritors who may or may not be in the country or even know that they are part owners. This would be a minefield.

Penny thanks for that...  its good that there is still a bit more time... and of course it allows geometras to still keeping earning....  however i know of two cases now where buildings have beeen ordered to be knocked down by comunes before completions of final acts.. well the notary has advised that the buildings have to be removed ... so its a work in progress.. i guess people are given the choice to pay for them to be registered or get rid of them...    its going to be fun for some and i still believe it requires people to be doubly careful when buying property here over the next year to make sure they are fully aware and have thing fully checked.. because during this transition period things are going to be chaotic..  one of the large problems is that Italian owners are reluctant to spend money and so they are trying to get rid of places without declaring any problems and it means even more so than before that selling a property requires a lot more checking before accepting them.. its sometimes a real nightmare..  and puts to my mind the advice of going to a local bar and doing a deal even more absurd unless you have excellent Italian and a good knowledge of all the property laws here..   

Totally agree with Adriatica's last comment. Use a good agent or else it could be a minefield. There are no concessions for properties with multiple owners (aren;t most like that anyway?). So long as ONE owner does the right thing, that is sufficient.

just to add to my posting re buildings getting knocked down.. it seems that they were unable to register them because of their roofs.. asbestos.. its quite common her to still find the old asbestos sheets on rural buildings and in general in the past no one checked or enforced laws on the use of.. i have not found the law regarding their existence and it will be there somewhere.. maybe penny you know.. anyway it seems that registering an old building if it has an asbestos roof is no longer that simple.. they insist its changed.. this involves specialist companies and the sheets have to go to a special waste site.. all very expensive.. plus then the rebuild costs and it seems like it was not considered worth the hassle to either the old or new owners.. so they bit the bullet and got rid of it all... there used to be a factory for the stuff in the province of L'Aquila.. of course all now closed but its another case of an area which is now contaminated by old industrial processes and nothing much has been done.. in fact relevant in these days because the removal of the debris from the centre of L'Aquila after the earth quake has to be treated as hazadros waste and therefore handled and stored with great care... one of the reasons a lot of the area is closed and makes the attempts by people there to make a point about clearing the debris in barrow loads as a protest rather sad .. as they took their children with them to add to the crowds.. and the fibres from this sort of material are very dangerous indeed anyway the stuff either asbestos or amianto ( very similar substances with the same risks)is banned now throughout italy even though at one stage like most industrial countries it was very widely used.. laws have been in place for many years regarding its disposal and use but largely ignored on rural buildings.. i guess its time that at least the comunes now are doing something about it... and i guess this process of making regular the property maps and how they are registered gives some of them that are more concerned a chance to rid the world of a very dangerous substance... should also add that its not always obvious as in sheets .. many buildings have it mixed in with the concrete before it was banned therefore making even rubble of a normal appearance become a hazardous controlled material as regards its handling and disposal.. any building constructed after 1992 should not have the material within it .. i presume geometras will know the history of an additional building and if they suspect it was constructed during the days when it was widely used both for thermal isolation or as a fire retardent then they will act to make sure everything is safe