On 19 February 2026, Law Decree no. 19, titled “Further urgent provisions for the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and concerning cohesion policies” (the so-called PNRR Law Decree), was published in the Official Gazette.
Among the most significant changes, for student housing co-financed with PNRR funds, we would like to highlight the introduction of a simplification of urban planning and administrative procedures, allowing the use of an accelerated administrative procedure for the construction of student housing accommodation.
In particular, Article 20 of the PNRR Law Decree provides, inter alia and insofar as relevant, for:
(i) the extension of the mandate of the Extraordinary Commissioner for Student Housing until 31 December 2029;
(ii) the possibility that, even where urban planning instruments require the prior approval of an implementation plan or a second-level planning instrument however named, student housing projects co-financed through PNRR funds may be carried out by means of an agreed building permit pursuant to Article 28-bis TUE, where the construction of urbanisation works is required to upgrade existing infrastructure functionally connected to the project and to be assigned to the Municipality.
The above certainly constitutes an important simplification measure, which would be useful to extend to all student housing construction projects.
The Firm remains available for any further clarification or assistance.