The Advice That Travels Badly
There is a conversation that happens regularly in the offices of real estate advisors, family offices, and legal counsel across Milan, Rome, London, and Zurich — whenever a client owns, or is considering acquiring, a luxury property in Sardinia that carries some building irregularity. It goes roughly as follows: Italy has a long history of building amnesties. The last ones were in 1985, 1994, and 2003. There will probably be another one. It is worth waiting to see how the regulatory landscape evolves before taking any drastic action.
This advice is not unreasonable in most of Italy. In Sardinia – and particularly in the coastal areas of northern Sardinia where the most valuable properties are concentrated – it is wrong in a way that compounds rather than resolves the problem.
Understanding why requires understanding something that most commentary on Italian building law, written from a national perspective, does not adequately convey: Sardinia has its own building regulatory framework, shaped by its status as an autonomous region with specific environmental and landscape protections that are structurally different from the rest of Italy – and in 2026, the Constitutional Court has twice confirmed that these protections cannot be softened, even by the Sardinian region itself.
What the Corte Costituzionale Said in 2026
In May 2026, Italy’s Constitutional Court issued ruling No. 86/2026 — a decision directly concerning a provision of Sardinia’s Regional Law 18/2025, which was itself an attempt to adapt the national Salva Casa decree to Sardinian conditions.
The provision under challenge had sought to extend to buildings regularised through historic amnesties the same construction rights available to legitimately built properties — enabling volumetric increases, demolition and reconstruction, and other transformations. The Constitutional Court struck it down. An amnesty, the Court stated clearly, “does not equate to a legitimate property title like any other.” It is “a measure entirely beyond the ordinary, intended to be a one-time remedy for resolving illegal situations” — one that extinguishes criminal charges and administrative violations, but does not erase the original illegality or confer the same status as a property built correctly from the start.
The ruling was delivered in the context of a Sardinian law – and its implications for property owners in the region are direct and specific. Properties that were constructed unlawfully and later regularised through a 1985, 1994, or 2003 amnesty cannot subsequently be expanded, demolished and rebuilt, or treated as equivalent to fully compliant properties for the purposes of future construction rights. The amnesty closed one door. It did not open a new one.
One month earlier, the same Court had issued ruling No. 100/2026, striking down a different provision of the same Sardinian law — one that had attempted to allow retroactive authorisation for construction carried out on land subject to hydrogeological constraints. The Court was direct: national law mandates prior authorisation as the “supremacy of the essential public interest,” and a regional provision permitting retroactive regularisation “diminishes the level of environmental protection” in a way that falls outside regional legislative competence.
Together, the two rulings draw a clear line: the Sardinian region cannot lower the bar that national environmental and landscape law sets. And the bar, in the coastal zones of northern Sardinia, is very high.
The Sardinian Coastal Prohibition: Why It Has No Equivalent Elsewhere
The specific context that makes Sardinia different from the rest of Italy — including from comparable coastal areas in Sicily, Calabria, or the Amalfi coast — is the Piano Paesaggistico Regionale (PPR), introduced in 2006 under President Renato Soru. The PPR operates as an absolute landscape framework: within 300 metres of the sea, no new construction sites may be opened, and no existing building volumes may be increased.
This prohibition applies across the entire Sardinian coastline and cannot be derogated by municipal planning instruments, special economic zone authorisations, or regional building laws. It was tested again in July 2026, when the national government revoked the special economic zone authorisation that had been granted to a Brazilian developer planning a luxury glamping resort near Tavolara, opposite Porto Rotondo — because the ZES procedure had been used to bypass the PPR and national marine protected area rules, and environmental groups forced the revocation.
The practical consequence for luxury villa owners in the Costa Smeralda is straightforward: any construction that took place within the protected coastal zone — any expansion of volume, any new structure, any change of use of spaces not previously approved — is, in the eyes of Italian law, not regularisable through any currently available national or regional mechanism. Not by the Salva Casa decree. Not by a future condono. Not by a regional law — because the Constitutional Court has now twice confirmed that the region itself cannot override the framework.
The Hydrogeological Trap: The Illusion of “Retroactive Approval”
While much of the public focus remains on coastal landscape rules, many luxury properties in Gallura are built on hillsides, rocky slopes, or near watercourses. These geographical features trigger a secondary, equally severe restriction: the vincolo idrogeologico (hydrogeological constraint).
A common, yet highly risky, strategy deployed by local technicians to bypass initial compliance blocks has been to apply for a post-facto hydrogeological authorization. This essentially meant asking for forgiveness and paying a fine once the excavation, swimming pool, or retaining walls were already completed.
In June 2026, the Constitutional Court’s ruling No. 100/2026 systematically dismantled this practice.
The Court struck down the Sardinian regional provision (under Regional Law 18/2025) that attempted to introduce a “post-facto hydrogeological compatibility assessment”, a mechanism intended as an equivalent to the doppia conformità (double compliance) used in standard building permits.
The Court’s reasoning was uncompromising:
- Strict Prevention is Mandatory: The national framework—dating back to the historic Royal Decree No. 3267/1923 (the foundation of Italian soil protection) – demands preventive authorization before a single stone is turned. This preventive nature is a non-negotiable pillar of environmental safety.
- No Regional Softening of Standards: Although regions manage the practical administration of hydrogeological constraints, they do not possess the legislative authority to alter core administrative procedures. Allowing retroactive regularization lowers the safety threshold set by the State.
- No “Formal” Loopholes Allowed: The Court clarified that even if a violation is deemed “purely formal” – meaning it has caused no actual landslide or water flow damage – it remains unsanable if carried out without prior clearance.
What Is Actually Happening on the Ground
The Procura della Repubblica di Tempio Pausania – the prosecutor’s office with jurisdiction over the Gallura territory, which includes Arzachena, Porto Rotondo, Olbia, La Maddalena, and the entire Costa Smeralda coastline – is among the most active judicial offices in Italy for building and environmental crime.
In August 2025, a single enforcement sweep by the Corpo Forestale acting on mandates from Procurator Gregorio Capasso resulted in seizures across Porto Rotondo, Olbia, Arzachena, Golfo Aranci, and Liscia Ruja:
- In Porto Rotondo, a luxury villa under construction, 1,500 cubic metres of entirely unauthorised building materials, with a basement converted from cellar to residential space and utility rooms annexed to the swimming pool converted without permits
- In Punta Volpe, Porto Rotondo, a second luxury tourist villa with significant unauthorised volume increase and an additional basement converted to residential accommodation, still under completion at the time of seizure
- In Arzachena, a beach kiosk at Liscia Ruja with permanent structures anchored to state-owned foreshore without any building or landscape permit
- In Golfo Aranci, the Court of Review confirmed the seizure of part of the Cala Sassari – Spiaggia Bianca tourist development: three buildings including residential units with pools, constructed on a completely cleared and transformed sensitive area with an unpermitted private access track to Cala Ambra beach
The same period saw the seizure of a villa with pool under construction at Portobello di Gallura – a coastal site subject to both landscape and hydrogeological constraints, works begun without authorisation.
The Procura di Tempio Pausania recorded more than 500 open building abuse proceedings across its territory of jurisdiction in recent years, spread across Olbia, La Maddalena, Arzachena, Loiri Porto San Paolo, and Santa Teresa di Gallura.
The “Wait and See” Calculation and Why It Fails
The assumption behind the “wait for a condono” strategy is that Italian building law will eventually liberalise – that a future national or regional provision will create a pathway to regularisation that does not currently exist. For a property in inland Italy, with no coastal landscape prohibition, that assumption may be defensible as a long-term bet on Italian legislative behaviour.
For a luxury villa on the Costa Smeralda coastline, it rests on premises that the Constitutional Court has now directly and recently rejected.
The calculation that an irregular extension, an unauthorised annex, or an undocumented change of use will eventually be absorbed into a regularisation scheme carries costs that compound over time:
The property cannot be sold cleanly. Any buyer conducting proper due diligence — particularly any buyer advised by a competent foreign law firm — will identify the irregularity and either withdraw or price it into the offer. As international buyers become more sophisticated about Italian building compliance, this risk increases rather than decreases.
The exposure to prosecution does not have a statute of limitations that reliably protects. Criminal building offences in Italy involving ongoing structures do not run from the date of construction but from when the offence is determined to be permanent — a point of Italian law that many owners and advisors outside Sardinia are unaware of and that the Tempio Pausania Procura exploits systematically.
The seized property is practically frozen. Once a precautionary seizure is ordered, the property cannot be used as collateral, sold, transferred, or in many cases even physically accessed for works. The Vacchi villa has been under sequestro since 2023. The Li Liccioli development site has been sealed since early 2026. The Golfo Aranci complex had its sequestro confirmed by the Court of Review despite challenge. The practical cost of a frozen asset – for a family or a corporate structure that planned to use it, rent it, or eventually sell it – is real and immediate.
What the Salva Casa Decree Does and Does Not Do in Sardinia
The national Salva Casa decree (Law No. 105/2024) introduced simplified regularisation procedures for minor building irregularities at the national level — tolerance thresholds for small discrepancies in heights, distances, and volumes. Sardinia adapted this decree through Regional Law 18/2025, with provisions that attempted to go further.
The Constitutional Court struck down those additional provisions in ruling 86/2026. What remains in Sardinia is the national framework, substantially more limited than the regional law had sought to extend:
- Minor tolerance-threshold regularisations for small technical discrepancies
- No volumetric increases for properties regularised through historic amnesties
- No retroactive authorisation for works in hydrogeological constraint zones]
- No constructive equivalence between amnesty-granted and originally compliant properties
For a luxury villa on the Costa Smeralda that carries any irregularity going beyond a minor technical discrepancy – an extra room, an extended terrace, a converted basement, a pool annex, a volume added within 300 metres of the sea – the Salva Casa framework provides no solution.
What a Proper Assessment Covers
The assessment that any owner of an irregular luxury property in Costa Smeralda or Gallura actually needs is not a general one. It is a specific analysis of the gap between the property’s current physical state and its legal documentation – permits, cadastral records, landscape constraints, PPR zone classification, historic amnesty status if applicable – combined with a clear-eyed view of what is currently regularisable and what is not, and what the consequences of the existing irregularity are in terms of marketability, fiscal position, and criminal exposure.
That analysis produces a different answer for every property, because the variables – the specific zone, the specific works, the specific history of the title – are different every time. What it will never produce, for a coastal property in northern Sardinia with material building irregularities, is the answer that many owners have been waiting to hear: “just wait a little longer.”
Contact
Govoni Law advises international owners and their advisors on the legal aspects of owning real estate in Sardinia, including building compliance, landscape restrictions, and property title analysis.
All work is conducted in writing, in English.
FAQ Section
Q: Is a building amnesty (condono edilizio) available for luxury villas on the Costa Smeralda?
A: Not for material irregularities in the protected coastal zones. Italy’s last national amnesties were in 1985, 1994, and 2003. The Constitutional Court’s 2026 rulings (86/2026 and 100/2026) confirmed that Sardinia cannot introduce retroactive regularisation mechanisms for works in landscape-protected and hydrogeologically constrained areas — which cover most of the premium coastal zones of northern Sardinia.
Q: What does the Salva Casa decree mean for irregular properties in Sardinia?
A: The national Salva Casa decree (Law 105/2024) allows minor tolerance-threshold regularisations for small technical discrepancies. Sardinia’s Regional Law 18/2025 attempted to extend this further, but the Constitutional Court struck down the provisions that went beyond the national framework. For anything beyond minor technical irregularities, particularly for properties in coastal zones or on land with hydrogeological constraints, no regularisation pathway currently exists.
Q: How active is building enforcement in Gallura and Costa Smeralda?
A: Very active. The Procura di Tempio Pausania, under Prosecutor Gregorio Capasso, has conducted systematic enforcement sweeps resulting in hundreds of seizures across Arzachena, Porto Rotondo, Olbia, La Maddalena, Golfo Aranci, and the broader Gallura territory. Over 500 open building abuse proceedings were recorded in recent years.
Q: Does a building irregularity affect a property’s marketability or fiscal position?
A: Yes, on both counts. A property with unresolved building irregularities cannot be sold cleanly to a buyer conducting proper due diligence. Fiscally, irregularities that are not reflected in the cadastral record can expose the owner to tax reassessments on historic transactions involving the property.
Q: Can a prior amnesty on a Sardinian property protect against future enforcement?
A: Partially. A historic amnesty extinguishes criminal charges and administrative violations relating to the specific works covered. It does not confer full constructive equivalence with legitimately built properties, and — per Constitutional Court ruling 86/2026 — does not entitle the owner to volumetric increases or other expansions available to originally compliant properties.
Q: What does a proper legal assessment of a luxury property in Costa Smeralda cover?
A: A thorough assessment maps the gap between the property’s physical state and its full legal documentation – permits, cadastral records, PPR zone classification, landscape constraints, and historic amnesty status. It identifies what is regularisable under current law, what is not, and what the practical consequences are for the owner’s fiscal, criminal, and commercial position.
Internal Linking Suggestions
- → Unauthorized Building Work on a Luxury Villa in Costa Smeralda – the three-layer exposure in detail
- → Shell Company, Luxury Villa in Costa Smeralda & Italian Tax Audit – when the same property is held through a company structure
- → Building Abuses and Planning Irregularities in Sardinia – Govoni Law’s foundational guide on this topic.