If you are looking for housing to rent or buy, it is possible to focus the search not only in the historic city center, but to consider the neighborhoods and the entire metropolitan area of Bologna, with an eye to the services offered, the transportation system and the costs. Besides rent and the costs of utilities (electricity, gas, water), you need to consider building instalment (cleaning of the stairs, the use of the elevator...) and the city garbage tax (TARI). These expenses are all the renters' responsibility. Sometimes the rent will include part of the general expenses, like for heating, the elevator and the cleaning of common areas. It is not unusual for the landlord to require proof of the tenants' solvency, in the form of a pay stub or emplyment contract. Otherwise, the property owner may demand a bank guarantee to cover the rental fees.

For further information: 

• Real estate rate data bank  (ITA)

Types of rental contracts 

There are a number of different kinds of rental contracts, but the main ones are:

• locazione a canone libero 4+4,  which is a free-market rental contract with the lease set for four years with possibility to renew for a second 4-year period; 
• contratto di locazione a canone concordato 3+2 where the rental price has a fixed ceiling and the lease lasts three years, with the possibility of renewing it for an additional two.

The tenant may always decide to terminate the lease generally by giving six-months' notice.

Find out more:

• How to register an ordinary lease (ITA)
• Conclusion, withdrawal, extension of lease agreements (ITA)

For buying a home you can rely on professional assistance – a real estate agent – or proceed on your own. While proceeding on your own may save you the costs of agency fees, at the same time it may make dealing with the complicated bureaucratic aspects of purchasing property. Besides word of mouth and publications dedicated to advertisements for the housing market, your best house-hunting tool is, of course, the internet, where you can find many websites specialized in presenting properties for sale both through intermediaries like real estate agents and for sale by owner.

For further information: 

• The guide to buying a house in Italy 

In order to choose among the different proposals on the market, you can also refer to real estate agencies, choosing those in the area with the best feedback. The cost of the real estate agency in the case of a lease is calculated in 1 or 2 months plus tax at 22% (VAT) with the release of a regular invoice.

As an alternative to the real estate agency, you can write your own home search advertising, to be published on the home search / offer platform.In the request announcement it is necessary to specify who you are (age, work, family situation, etc ..) and the type of apartment you are looking for (area, size, maximum sustainable cost, if you want it furnished or not) and if you are looking for rentals from private, remember, at the end of the message, to always add "no agencies".