Renovating your home: what's new in the PNRR

Easing bureaucratic procedures, broadening eligibility, and introducing a single 75% rate. These are the main proposals on tax deductions for building renovations and the superbonus, set out in the guidelines of the Recovery Plan (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) recently approved by specific majority resolutions of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Based on these guidelines, the Government will prepare the final version of the PNRR, which Brussels expects by the end of April.

With regard to tax deductions for construction work and the superbonus, several new measures are planned: simplifying procedures, unifying all incentives under a single 75% rate, and extending the superbonus to hotels and restaurants.

These are the main proposals recently discussed and approved by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

By the end of the month, Brussels expects Italy to submit the final version of the PNRR. The Government is moving to include these new proposals.

There is also a recognized need to extend the superbonus measure until 2023.

In short, in order to circulate money and channel savings into the recovery of Italy’s real estate assets, it must be acknowledged that Covid has not stopped and that the timeframe set for its use has not been sufficient.

And the blame is not only on Covid, which continues to affect us. Lengthy and complicated procedures, combined with the slow rollout of tools for collecting applications, mean that very few people have managed to get on the right track.

Now let’s look at the unification of tax rates: we, as operators in the sector, struggle to distinguish and accurately recall all the opportunities in the “home tax deductions universe.” A few weeks ago, we published a summary post and realized at that very moment just how “heavy” the information set is.

Setting the rate at 75% for all types of interventions (eco-bonus, renovation bonus, furniture bonus, seismic bonus, green bonus, façade bonus, water bonus, and charging station bonus), in addition to raising the ceiling from 50–60% to 75% and providing for a uniform duration of 5 years, creates order and simplifies choices and procedures.

Order creates clarity, and clarity is a useful—indeed necessary—ingredient for people to actually use the tools provided.

The basic goal is to streamline all procedures and opportunities so as not to miss out on major chances—just as often happens with EU funds: large injections of energy remain locked in a drawer simply because… to open it… you are handed a bunch of a hundred keys and only one is the right one.

At the same time, however, tools must be found to contain the downside: 79% of construction companies surveyed report rising material prices. Metals, thermal insulation materials, plant materials, and wood show increases ranging from a minimum of 14% up to peaks of 50%.

The consequence? The profit margins of companies that have been in difficulty for a long time, even before Covid, shrink further, undermining the very purpose of the measures taken to address the crisis.

In particular, when contracts were signed before this new trend, builders have no way of recovering costs from end users, who in any case refer to official price lists that have not yet been updated. This inevitably leads to disputes.

All of the above makes it clear how much still needs to be done to truly revive the sector. A lot, and quickly.