House energy certification to a deadlock

House energy certification has become mandatory on real estate advertising in Italy since January 2012 (on newspapers, billboards, internet, flyers and TV). After a month from this rule application- which acknowledges the 2009 EU Directive to promote renewable energy- less than 13% of the advertisement was published bylaw. The number is reported by the Immobiliare.it real estate agency, which also points out remarkable territorial differences between the 700.000 published ads: in North Eastern Italy 18% of the announcements were lawful, while in the Central Region 8,8% and only 3,8% in the South.

According to the legislative decree 28/2011 every single real estate ad should include the energetic performance indicator (EPI), specifying the class between A to G.

As a matter of fact the legislation presents few irregularities: administrative sanctions are provided in certain Regions only. As an example, in Lombardia the fine can be up to 5.000 euros, while in some other Provinces, in order not to deliver the energy certification, the class indicated is often the lowest (G). Regarding this last circumstance, the European Commission is bringing out a default action against the Italian Government.