Serrano

My comments were addressed to the situation of the OP, rather than to yours. I don't have any idea of your situation; you mention income from the UK, but not what it derives from. Not all foreign income attracts INPS (for example I suspect that 'earnings' from letting out property probably doesn't attract INPS, but someone in that situation can advise with certainty)

I know of no way in which you can avoid paying taxes (or even INPS contributions where relevant) by purchasing PHI, and I certainly didn't intend to imply that this was the case. If anything it's the other way round. If the OP (non-retired) isn't paying INPS contributions then he/she should expect to be asked to provide proof of PHI. All part and parcel of what you said in post #9 ("What you are asked to provide is evidence that you will not be a burden on the state").

Now in fact you are in any case covered for emergencies and (without PHI) not covered for non-emergencies so there is theoretically no burden on the state whatsoever. But I suspect the state's view is that without PHI you would just go to Pronto Soccorso and thus be a burden. I know that in theory if you present at A&E with a non-emergency you could (and arguably should) be charged. But in practice doctors don't like doing this (and therefore very rarely do it), thus in practice there is a burden on the state which is probably mitigated by PHI. Or am I attributing too much intelligence to the state. Probably

Geordieborn

If someone has set their heart on the dream I don’t think anything we say here will put them off, certainly not minor detail. I’ve said before if you can afford to lose what you pay for the property and spend on it, with no regrets, then fine. When we were looking I read just about every historic post on many a forum that I could find. In one someone had said most (90%) of people moving abroad end up leaving within 7 years. We have found this to be the case with many, many people we have known over out short time in Italy (8 years).

philat98

There is plenty of information about house buying but not much about house selling. In my village the
Property market has been stagnant for the last 10 years. There are many more properties for sale than casa.it would have you believe. I think renting is not a bad solution. You can get quite a good appartment (100m 2 beds)for Euro450 per month in Umbria. Using Geordieborn's information total residency would cost under 40k. If you bought a house in my village for 70k you might lose 25k by paying an over inflated price and all the costs that go with the purchase.

Geordieborn

I agree that renting is a very good alternative, I had a quick look before I posted previously at casa.it for rentals and there were a number. If you were to look at the lower end you could rent a lot cheaper. I think the problem is that many see it as money lost that could buy you more. Rather than looking on it as something that gives say 4 years living your dream and if you don't like it you walk away. If you do like it you will be in a much better position to know exactly where you want to buy and likely much more savvy when buying.

travelling hopefully

Thanks all for your thoughts and experiences. I think that rental might be the option. Although I would normally think of renting as being 'lost' money, as Geordieborn says it's more an investment on my future life and I think it's worth spending money trying (even if I lose it) than in years to come wishing I had tried! In order to live the way I'd ideally like I'd like to have somewhere with a decent garden or some land. I know that I said about a village house etc because of my smaller budget, but my original dream was to be in a small place with land and see what I could live on, whether that be in a village, in the country whatever. I will look at casa.it and see what's around.

I do appreciate all your replies, so thanks again.