Kate Paterson and her husband David left their home in Melbourne’s Richmond in July last year for a new life in Italy. With their two children, now aged two and four, the couple moved to an apartment they had rented on-line in Lucca, a town west of Florence in Tuscany. They had never been to Lucca before, and neither spoke Italian, but they chose the town because of its mild climate, good services, its proximity to an international airport and its sizeable expatriate population. Soon after arriving, they enrolled their children in day-care and kindergarten and began the long-term struggle with Italian bureaucracy.
“We love it here,” says Kate, now 37. “Rents cost far less money, everything is cheaper, the overall cost of living is much smaller. The kids now speak Italian fluently.”
The idea of moving to Italy is alluring for retirees – la dolce vita, the food, the wine, the beauty, the prices (Australia’s cost of living is 1.58 higher than Italy’s, according to one international index).
Australian retirees who want to live for a long period or permanently in Italy can apply for an Elective Residence Visa which can last 12 months or more. The ERV requires detailed proof of an income stream of at least E2600 per month (nearly AUD$4200) from property, a business or other assets, excluding employment income and bank deposits, as well as confirmed housing for the duration of the visa – such as a 12-month lease or property ownership in Italy. This visa prohibits any type of employment in Italy.
Alternatively, Italy has recently introduced a digital nomad visa which permits applicants to work. Among other elements, evidence of qualifications and proof of or potential employment is required. “The digital nomad law has been passed, but I don’t know of anyone who has ever got one,” Kate says. “It’s working its way through the system. But everything takes time, and the consulates are backed up wherever you go. It was taking so long in Melbourne.”
For her part, Kate chose the blood ties route. She began her quest for Italian citizenship by descent before she and her family left Australia. Her grandfather was born in Italy, and Italy permits citizenship applications from foreigners who have Italian roots. The lineage can stretch back through generations, but extensive proof including birth certificates and marriage certificates is required.
Kate’s application has recently been granted and she and her two children are now Italian citizens. She is currently studying Italian at a school in Lucca, as well as running a small business – www.becomingitalian.co – which assists Australians seeking Italian citizenship by descent.
“There are many agencies for Americans, but I realised no-one was catering for Australians,” she says. “I’m not aware of anyone in Australia. It is possible to do it yourself (claim citizenship). If you’re eligible, then it’s totally possible.”
She and her husband soon left the first flat they rented in Lucca and moved into another three-bedroom apartment just outside the ancient city walls – this one has a shared garden and storage for pushbikes. They now pay E730 (about AUD $1600) in rent a month.
They don’t have a car and they use pushbikes to get around town, with a bike trailer for their children, and they frequently take advantage of Italy’s inexpensive public transport (the train fare from Lucca to nearby Pisa, for instance, takes about half an hour and usually costs less than four euros – about AUD$6.50).
In terms of finance and for tax purposes, Australians relocating to Italy might be able to remain Australian residents or they may become foreign residents – each designation has different tax advantages and disadvantages. The Australian Taxation Office uses a number of assessments to determine tax residency status, including the 183-day test, but the system is not clear-cut and it’s worth consulting a tax professional on the potential financial ramifications of living abroad.
Another Australian living happily in Italy, Buzz McCarthy has no intention of ever returning to Australia permanently – so for tax purposes she is not an Australian resident. She parlayed inherited British citizenship into Italian residency before Brexit took hold.
She has now lived in Italy for six years; in Tuscany during the summer and in her house in Abruzzo for the rest of the year.
“There is an excellent medical system here and the proximity to the rest of Europe is amazing,” she says. “I could eat three meals out here for the rest of my life and I wouldn’t be bankrupt. I can have a three-course lunch with wine and water in a little place near here (her Tuscan home) for 13 euros (about AUD$21).”
Aged 77, with a doctorate in psychoneurology, McCarthy is content with her Italian life; she loves having friends to stay, she loves the Italian markets, the fresh fruit and vegetables. “It’s a Mediterranean diet, which means you live better and longer,” she says. “And I like Italians’ family values; Sunday lunch is usually three generations eating together.”
Originally from Armadale in Melbourne, McCarthy and her former husband bought a farmhouse in the hills of northern Tuscany in 1988. During Covid she bought and renovated another house, with five storeys and a leaking roof, in the Abruzzo region, 700 kilometres to the south. Located in a small town near the Adriatic, the grand old house was almost derelict when McCarthy bought it – had no running water, no electricity, no kitchen or bathrooms and a dirt floor.
Getting an Italian house restored or renovated can be difficult, especially for foreigners who can’t speak Italian. McCarthy has “functional” Italian, she says, and she works to improve it. She understands the Italian ways of getting things done. “The rules are very different here,” she says. “I have found over the years that a ‘no’ is not a definite ‘no’. There’s much more leeway here.”
Importantly, she says, housing in Italy is relatively inexpensive, especially compared with Australia. “Anything you will buy here will almost definitely need work, but even after restoration it will still be less than the squillions of dollars you have to pay in Melbourne.”
Even so, buying property in Italy can be complex and time-consuming, McCarthy says, warning that sometimes ancient property titles don’t accord with the actual property. Many houses have multiple owners, because Italian inheritance law automatically grants a share of the property title to each sibling, and homes have stayed in the family for generations without being sold. McCarthy’s Tuscan house had 17 owners; her Abruzzo house 11. All the owners, she adds, have to agree to the sale and sign a power of attorney
Housing in Italy varies wildly in price, depending on location and condition. Luxury apartments in the historic centres of Rome, Venice, Florence and Milan can sell for millions.
At the other end of the scale, there are one-euro houses for sale in remote Italian villages with declining populations, mostly in southern Italy. They may look romantic and desirable, but almost all need substantial rehabilitation and they are usually sold with the catch that all renovations have to be completed within a certain timeframe, otherwise a deposit or even the house itself is forfeit.
Despite social media rumblings that Australians are no longer permitted to buy property in Italy, Milan-based Daniel Shillito, of D&G Property Advice, a property and finance advisory for foreigners moving to Italy, says he and his colleagues have just helped an Australian to buy in Liguria, in north-west Italy.
The law concerning property purchases by foreign nationals is a matter of interpretation for individual Italian notaries, he adds. “I’d recommend tax and financial advice before undertaking such a big move.”
For his part, Australian Jim Corcoran, 73, is happy living in a rented apartment inside Lucca’s city walls.
“Life is cheaper in Lucca,” he says. “While rent is a hot topic in Australia, here leases can be four years, with an option for a further four years.” A two-bedroom apartment, in the historic heart of the town might cost E950 (about AUD $1520) a month to rent, he says, and one outside the city walls maybe half or two-thirds that amount.
After growing up in Melbourne’s Surrey Hills and Mont Albert, and spending the last 15 years of his Australian life in South Yarra, Corcoran has been living “on and off” in Lucca since 2016.
“Public transport here is good and cheap,” he says, adding he rides a pushbike around town, but his wife prefers to walk. They appreciate the cost and excellent quality of groceries. “Tuscans are proud of their produce and they will buy local if at all possible, so the quality is great.”
He pays E30 a month for fibre internet, his apartment has air-conditioning but it’s almost never used and the utility bills are reasonable. In summer, when it can get hot inside Lucca’s walls, Corcoran and his wife share a beach-club membership with other locals and head to the coast by train three or four times a week.
Corcoran is one of the convenors of a group of mostly retired English-speaking residents who meet once a week at a café to socialise and share tips and advice. There are 1600 people registered with the group, and posts are usually seen by as many as 700.
“Lucca is a beautiful city, with a long cultural history, and a lot of stimulus,” he says. “My wife is half-Italian and she was not keen on retiring in Melbourne, so we lucked into Lucca. It’s good for the brain to live in a country where English isn’t the primary language.”