S7_Blade

Having grown increasingly disillusioned with life in the UK, my partner and I are seriously considering moving to Italy in the hope of finding a better quality of life, better weather and better food. We have been to Puglia before and know and love the area, so would love to move here some time in 2023. Done a few searches of properties for sale online and found some great ones around San Vito dei Normanni, at such good prices compared with the UK.

We are still only in our 30s, but are fortunate enough to have jobs that we could do remotely from Italy (the company I work for also has an office in Bari). My partner is Polish and I'm British. I understand that I'd probably be ok to get the 5 year residency on the basis of being in a relationship with someone from an EU member state?

My main question, for anyone who has taken the plunge and moved to Italy, specifically Puglia (as I know local laws and ways of working vary), is how long should I keep in mind to undertake the process and what's the best way to start? Is it simply a case of getting out there and viewing properties? Would I have had to have sold my property in the UK first (I understand you have to leave a deposit straight away in Italy, for purchase)? Would I need to have my visa/residency status all sorted before making an offer, or could this be done in parallel? Similarly, at what point would I need to have written confirmation from my employer that I would be working there?

Finally and more interestingly, anyone here living in Puglia? How have you found it since leaving the UK?

Geordieborn

It's a great life there if you go with your eyes wide open. First off search here (on the forum top right) for "tax" and/or "tax in Italy" or search the web, it's steep. Still worth it to me if you can afford it. So if it does not put you off, look at "relationship" as opposed to "spouse" for residency, but there may be other ways around that. Next look at renting first, I know a waste of money in most circumstances, but not here in this case. Don't equate the UK house market with Italy, houses there are cheap for a reason (likely different reasons to those here in the UK). If you have not already done so, start learning Italian....

modicasa

The easiest way for you would be to get a job contract with your Bari office. Otherwise you will have problems. Post Brexit you would need to be married or in a formal civil union to get residency as a non EU citizen - and you would have to go through all the Permesso di Soggiorno rigmarole too. You can certainly buy a house without any of the residency stuff being done, but you need to know that you can stay there for more than 90 days. You may be eligible for one of the flat tax regimes for the first five years, and possibly (if you move to a small comune) other tax incentives. However, your biggest hurdle will be proving you have a right to live in Italy.

SanNico

I lived in and around San Vito dei Normanni on and off for 10 years. Just check you can get a decent internet connection before taking the plunge. It's not unusual to wait years for a connection. Many countryside homes use the deals from Tiscali and other providers who stick an antenna and SIM card on your roof to get internet that way. It works, but it's not good enough to work from home in many cases. Starlink is an expensive option but it's probably worth it.

Regarding buying, I would also consider renting, even long term. I've just sold a house there and if I remove the interest, purchase and sale costs I would have been better off renting. You'll get a house with a pool for less than you pay for a 2 bed terrace in even the cheapest parts of the UK. I rented an apartment a few years ago in the town centre. I paid 400 per month for a 3 bed apartment with 270 sq meters and roof terrace. Above all, any problems will be the owners problem, not yours. Italian houses come with more than their fair share of problems.

For residency, hire someone in the UK to do that side and hire someone local for the Italian side. If you're working you're not going to have the time or inclination to deal with the paperwork and you'll surely miss something out which will be very costly later down the line. If you go to Facebook and join the Brindisi Expat site you'll find a young lady called Ilaria. She has the correct contacts to fix everything for you. You'll get inundated with people claiming to be relocation agents, they're not. If you choose someone else, feel free to drop me a message as there are a couple of sharks to avoid, always recommended by agents.

Margaret M

We have Starlink, and are very impressed with it, it is expensive though. We pay €99 a month, but then hubby has to have fast internet, as do family when they visit.

Jake.White

Puglia is great, but is the UK really that bad..?

I had a house near Ostuni for 16 years, but buying and owning a house there is a minefield which is literally full of mines, and the market works in a completely different way from the UK market.

When I sold it was for £5k less than I paid for it 16 years previously.

Best advice I can offer is do your research, and then do it again, and if something seems to good to be true it almost certainly will be. Don't go over there searching for a house and lose your head just because the sun is shining and everything in the garden looks rosy.

As noted above, property is cheap there for a reason and it's not always a good one. There are literally hundreds of pitfalls you need to be aware of when buying and even something like paying your council tax which is so easy and simple in the UK is a task in itself.

Do your extensive homework and if that doesn't put you off you should be ok.

And finally - why not Poland? It would surely be a walk in the park for you compared to Italy, and it's a nice country.