Furnishing your new home in Italy

You can’t just import furniture to your new home in Italy. You’ll need to supply a list of items to your removal firm, along with a copy of the legal documents confirming you own the Italian property; both of these will need to be stamped by the Italian Consulate in London, New York or wherever. And you’ll need to have your Permesso di Soggiorno (permission to stay document) before you’ll be allowed to start shifting your furniture into Italy. It’s possible, here, that you won’t yet have your permesso, in which case the local comune of your new area will be able to supply papers confirming that you have bought a house in Italy.

You’ll also doubtless be buying lots of new stuff for your new home in Italy. A word of advice: make sure they are out of their wrappings and, ideally, bear at least some signs of use. That way they’ll obviously be for your own use rather than for resale. Remember that Customs can make ad hoc judgements on anything you bring through, and could decide to levy duty on your CD player or coffee maker.

Travelling to your villa in Tuscany

You’ll undoubtedly be travelling to and from your new villa in Tuscany (or wherever) in your existing car. That’s fine: you have six months grace in which you can drive a foreign-registered car before it has to be registered in Italy. When the time comes for that, the car will need to pass its Italian MOT (irrespective of its MOT status in the home country. This is called a collaudo. Should you wish, there are companies that will organise the whole business of importing a new or used car to Italy, and deal with all the paperwork. You will pay for the services of these ‘agenzie pratiche auto’ of course, but it can be well worth it while you’re concentrating on other matters — like sorting out your rubbish tax or getting your dog registered, for instance.

While it has become much easier to bring animals into the UK in recent years with the relaxation of quarantine restrictions, the bureaucracy in Italy still looms large. To import your pet he/she will need a Certificate of Health, this issued by a vet registered with the ministry of agriculture (or equivalent) of your home country. If you’re going to be shuttling back and forth to Britain with Fido, DEFRA-registered vets can issue him with a pet’s passport. Find out about your airline’s arrangements for transporting pets on the plane; they will normally travel on your flight as excess baggage.

Moving to Italy — ISPs and the permesso di soggiorno

Moving house is right up there with death and divorce as one of life’s big stressers. Moving house to a foreign country, and trundling through airports only multiplies the aggravation, so plan in painstaking detail. Is your paperwork in order, including any visas, your permesso di soggiorno or whatever? Is your passport valid to the end of your stay in Italy (so easy to miss when you’re going for long periods)? Do all your electrical items have plugs good for Italy? You don’t want to sit down with your laptop computer only to find out you can’t power it up.

And while we’re at it — have you made provision with an Italian internet service provider (ISP)? It may be you can continue using your home provider, but before you do check the line use isn’t prohibitively expensive. And bring an English language keyboard — or get used to all your symbols and special characters popping up in the wrong place on your Italian one.

As well as Italian plugs, you’ll need to buy power surge protectors: the electrical current, especially in rural areas and during thunderstorms, can be prone to surges that can blow your equipment. And don’t bother bringing a TV set — it won’t work in Italy.

Buying Italian real estate — the conto estero

Are you going to need access to large amounts of cash while in Italy? If you’re going to be getting lots of work done on your new apartment in Liguria or villa in Puglia then you’ll need ready cash to pay the tradesmen. Consider opening a current account (conto estero) with an Italian bank — choose one that has a branch in your city back home if possible; this won’t be a problem in London. You’ll be able to keep your savings in both sterling (or USD) and euros, and you can access and deposit cash wherever you are.

If it’s a permanent move, you need to tell any mail contacts about your change of address — you can get redirection by the Royal Mail for up to two years, though expect certain things to slip through the net, it does depend on the vigilance of your local sorting office. If it isn’t a permanent move, you should consider contacting the Royal Mail or equivalent to set up a holding point for your post while you’re away. Failing that, get a friend to periodically go round to your old address to pick up your mail.

Buying Italian real estate — the mail and bills back home

Are you going to have continuing debts or bills to pay back home? Ensure you have everything set up on Direct Debit before you leave. Just because you’re moving to a new home in Italy doesn’t mean you can forget your financial dues. A morning spent on this could save you months of hassle later on. Getting blacklisted by the Credit Agencies can create nightmares later on when it comes to arranging loans, mortgages and the rest. Have you cancelled the gas, electric, phone and water bills back home? You don’t want people running up debts in your name.

Are you still liable for UK or US tax? Then ensure you get your tax forms sent out to you before they are due — this is one thing we all put off. Wonder why? Bring books of UK or US stamps with you; you’re going to need them if you have to supply people back home with SAEs.

Moving to Italy — making yourself at home

You’ll almost certainly be buying and shipping stuff from back home. Books, furnishings, Marmite, tea bags, you name it. Ensure you set up a shipping contract with a home company before you leave for your new home in Italy; you’ll find it a whole lot cheaper than setting up a service with an Italian provider.

And those of you resistant to new technology should surrender. There are an increasing number of companies operating via the internet — and if you are buying direct online from Amazon or whoever then it largely doesn’t really matter where in the world you are (of course the Italian postman may still have difficulty finding, or bothering to find, your hidden Tuscan farmhouse, but we can’t have everything). There are provisos here of course. Whether you’re buying online or not, items are still being imported into the country, and are still subject to customs. Check with the supplying company what the rules and restrictions are (big companies such as Amazon, Dabs.com or Bol.com will certainly be able to help).

Buying Italian real estate — stock up on your medication

Do you suffer from any allergies or other medical conditions? Make sure you stock up on your medication and bring it with you; and have the details of your condition and medicines translated into Italian and bring that with you too. Remember that the prescription drugs you’re used to at home will likely have different names in Italy (even if they are generically the same) and they may not even exist. The drug you take by popping a pill back home may be administered by injection in Italy or even (gulp) via enema. Are there cosmetics and bathroom products you’re particularly attached too? Stock up. Having your favoured brand of toothpaste, shaving foam or eyeliner can make settling in a whole lot more comfortable.

Are you insured for every eventuality? And does your insurance cover you for the whole of your stay in Italy? Just like passports, insurance cover is something we tend to set up and then forget about expiry dates.

*Ian Rush, on his transfer from Liverpool FC to Juventus in the 1980s. His wife also complained that Italian bread didn’t make good toast.