Penny's activity

My husband has to pay ICI on his property in Comunanza (which he bought with the prima casa concession 6 years ago) because he recently changed his residency to my house here in Amandola. Even thought he has the prima casa concession on it, because he doesn't live in it, he has to pay.

There is no ICI to be paid by owners who live in their prima casa until further notice (as your Italian friends told you).  However, if you don't live in a property you claimed prima casa on, then you do have to pay it (as we've just found out!)

From where in Italy and to where in the UK will the van be going?

I read in the Corriere Adriatico last week that only Marche and Toscana had actually ratified the plan. You might be able to find the article on their website. Try these: http://www.corriereadriatico.it/articolo.aspx?varget=861195 http://www.corriereadriatico.it/articolo.aspx?varget=857177 The general gist seems to be that unles the house is in a National Park or a centro storico or the area is subject to landslides (a lot of this area is) then you can extend by 20% unless you are knocking down and rebuilding with "eco" materials, in which case you can extend by 35%. However, it does say each comune can choose to not implement this rule if they have a good enough reason. If it were me, I would speak to the comune technico as at the end of the day it will be his decision how the rules are interpreted.

Thanks Sprostoni! The good new is that I have in my hand the "attestazione di soggiorno permanente". Finally!! I'm off to the ASUR office in Ascoli on Thursday morning with my friend who is in the same situation. Fingers crossed.

Check out this website for the prices or here for Ascoli Piceno Province for 2008. A cadastral map extract will tell you exactly what the land is classified as and exactly how much there is. Ask the owner to provide this.€10,000 per hectare seems to be a magical figure that gets quoted a lot round here. No idea where it comes from

I have a friend in the same position as me and she informs me that apparently, the guy in the Anagrafe office has been doing his homework (finally!) and now agrees that the "attestazione di soggiorno permanente per i cittadini dell'unione europea" does exist and we do require it. Hooray!!! But..........I can only have it 5 years from the date of my residency application to the comune and not just because the permesso has expired. I think the sentiment of the law is that it should happen when the permesso expires but the letter of the law does talk about residency. Of course it used to take approximately 3 months for the permesso to come through making it impossible to apply for residency at the same time as the permesso. So as my friend put so succinctly "he is right for the wrong reasons". My 5 years of residency is up in September and as I work here have got health cover for the next 12 months, it won't cause me a problem if I have to wait until September. I can imagine it might cause other people a problem though. I just know I won't be able to persuade him to issue it any earlier - Relevant quote from the law: "Il cittadino dell'Unione che ha soggiornato legalmente ed in via continuativa  per  cinque anni nel territorio nazionale ha diritto al soggiorno  permanente  non subordinato alle condizioni previste dagli articoli 7, 11, 12 e 13."  

Your id card doesn't really mean much as far as documents are concerned although it does save you having to carry your passport. As I understand it, the reason we can't use it for travel is because we are not Italian citizens. If your permesso is about to expire, then you need to:

1. Go to the comune, with the permesso (before it expires) and request the "attestazione di soggiorno permanente per i cittadini dell'unione europea". The comune must issue this within 30 days of your request. You will need at least one bollo but they should tell you how many.
2. Take this to the ASUR office and request your "libretto sanitaria" which must be for an indeterminate period and not to be renewed annually.

This then means you never need to renew any more docs and are covered by the SSN just like an Italian. I believe you can even apply for citizenship if you wish.This is your right as an EU citizen. The ASUR does not have the right to ask you for any other documents. The "attestazione di soggiorno permanente per i cittadini dell'unione europea" is sufficient. Please see my links above for all the documents demonstrating this right.

That's correct Bill. Congrats Carole!! That it exactly how it is supposed to work for me too (and I'm not retired). Just that no-one in this town seems to believe me.I'll give the guy at the anagrafe office a week and try again.

If you do buy emulsion paint here, remember it needs to be watered down - usually 20-30% but check the label or do what seems right to get the correct consistency. We use the guy Sarah & Mark recommended in Amandola for coloured pains. Not cheap but excellent quality and good old Brico in Ascoli for white paint in big tubs of 14litres for about €22. What kind of wood stain do you want? IKEA do cheap wood stain. I've just used it on all my outdoor garden furniture and it was excellent (if you don't mind it being a teaky brown colour!). It goes a very long way. In the UK we used SIKKENS wood stain which doesn't need rubbing down after a few years if you want to restain it - it just wear off. Very worth the extra cost and you can get that here.