Hi everyonewe are just at offer stage

Dream could turn into a nightmare, so take your time. How long has this place been on the market?

Basically yes, it is the vendors problem.  If your apartment is registered as a independent unita immobiliare then it should hahve its own electricity and water meter.   When you say shared however it may be that the whole system is shared, and not just the inlet, and that can become very costly although as you say you are planning to do a new system anyway.  However if that means leaving the old iron pipes in the walls because they run to the neighbour, you are asking for trouble in the long term.  

Thanks for the helpful reply. This confirms my suspicion that the water needs to be seperated for the property to be sold. You make a good point on sharing. My understanding is  that there is one meter (and presumably therefore one bill!) and both flats feed from the same inlet on the street. We have already accepted that we need to replace all iron pipes in our property and run new water up to the apartment, to kitchen and bathrooms etc, and have a geometra estimate to do that.I guess what you highlight is that the neighbour may have to do something similar. The problem is that we understand she is 95 and not actually living in her flat. We have accepted the offer on the basis that:1. The owner works with the agent and geometra to develop a plan to split the water. 2. They try and get the neighbour to agree to that plan.3. The vendor pays for his share of the work.4. We can back out of the neighbour doesn't agree. But that seems like a tough job and I worry they won't manage to get the agreement. I guess we should be patient and see what happens?Thanks again.   

Good morning,
I hope my comment won't be seen as "offensive" but, although a vendor's problem, it is just matter of negotiation sometimes (the vendor can easily say "the property is on the market "as is" therefore take it or leave it!")

Having said that, if the apartment is a "must have" there are ways around (plan B)….

Please check at the following page for a tool called "contabilizzatore di ripartizione spese acqua" (http://www.srcelectronic.com/english.html) it is basically another meter at the beginning of your line which gives the opportunity to measure your exact consumption and share the bill based on consumprion; fixed cost will be split in half!)

Hi djenkinson33 If you don't mind, I would love a follow up to your story here. Did it all fall through, or are you still buying the apartment?