Across Italy lies a real-estate treasure that barely contributes to the housing market: the so-called “sleeping houses.” These include homes occupied only occasionally, properties left unrented, or buildings without active connections to electricity or water. Federproprietà–Censis estimates that they amount to roughly 8.5 million units, more than one in four privately owned homes.

Such a stock, if reactivated, could help ease the severe pressure on rentals, particularly in major cities where demand far outstrips supply. Unsurprisingly, most Italians - around 80 percent - support measures to bring these unused properties back into circulation rather than letting them remain idle.