Housing Emergency: How the Meloni Government’s Housing Plan Can Help Young Couples

The relationship between the housing policies of the Meloni Government and European Union directives (particularly the EPBD IV “Green Homes” Directive) reflects two different visions of real estate management: on one side, the national need to unblock the market, simplify bureaucracy, and address the housing emergency; on the other, the EU drive toward decarbonization and rigorous energy efficiency.

1. The Housing Plan and National Measures (Meloni Government)

The Italian Government’s strategy on housing has mainly developed around three pillars:

• Salva-Casa Decree (D.L. 69/2024): Aimed at remedying “minor building non-conformities” (moved partition walls, formal discrepancies, or construction tolerances). It bypassed the constraint of strict “double conformity” for historical minor violations, introduced tacit approval (silenzio-assenso) for many procedures, and facilitated changes of intended use, with the goal of releasing bureaucratically blocked properties and placing them on the sales and rental markets.

• Piano Casa Italia: Focused on public residential housing (ERP) and social housing. The plan aims at recovering and maintaining vacant public housing, offering homes at affordable rents for young couples and low-income families, and simplifying urban regeneration projects.

• Financial Sustainability: The public finance accounting approach seeks to limit the use of widespread, non-repayable incentives funded by the state budget (following the experience of the Superbonus).

1. European Parliament Directives (EPBD “Green Homes” Directive)

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD IV), approved by the European Parliament and the Council, establishes binding targets for the ecological transition of buildings:

• Reduction of Consumption: A decrease in the average primary energy consumption of residential building stock by 16% by 2030 and by 20–22% by 2035 (compared to 2020 levels).

• Zero Emission Buildings (ZEB): All new buildings must be zero-emission starting January 1, 2030 (from 2028 for public buildings).

• Phase-out of Gas Boilers: Progressive elimination of subsidies for fossil-fuel-powered systems and their gradual phase-out by 2040.

• Life Cycle Assessment (GWP): Introduction of the obligation to calculate the total CO₂ emissions embodied in materials and the construction process.

1. Main Critical Points of the Comparison

• Adaptation Costs: Italy’s building stock largely dates back to before 1990 and is predominantly in energy performance classes E, F, or G. The Government has raised concerns regarding the feasibility of overly tight deadlines without an adequate European support fund.

• Transposition and Planning: The EU directive mandates the submission of a National Renovation Plan. Integrating fiscal austerity measures, Housing Plan rules, and EU targets represents the testing ground that will shape upcoming implementing decrees and new targeted building incentives.

Prof. Giuseppe Arnone