MEP Valentina Palmisano (The Left) has asked the European Commission to clarify how it will verify that rents for student accommodation built under Italy's national recovery and resilience plan (NRRP) are at least 15% below local market prices, following reports that in many regions the NRRP-backed rents are actually higher than private-sector equivalents.
The written parliamentary question, submitted on 1 July 2026, targets measure M4C1-30 of the Italian NRRP, which aims to create at least 30,000 new sleeping accommodation units. The Council implementing decision requires that 30% of those units be reserved for students facing socio-economic difficulties and that rents be at least 15% below local prices. The same conditions apply to the Student Housing Fund, endowed with EUR 599 million.
Palmisano cites investigations by Chora Media and Will Media showing that average rents for NRRP-backed accommodation in many Italian regions — particularly in the south — are higher than those for privately rented rooms. She also notes that procuring units in existing buildings rather than building new capacity limits the increase in supply and the resulting downward pressure on market prices, raising concerns about compliance with the conditions attached to the measures.
(1) what data and methodology the Commission will use to check that the 15% reduction relates to prices actually charged on the local market rather than fees from a ministerial simulation; (2) whether non-compliant units can still be counted toward the M4C1-30 target and benefit from the fund; and (3) whether the Commission will, before any assessment, ask Italy for data broken down by structure on rents, benchmarks, beneficiaries, and units set aside for 'right to study' cases, and publish that data.
The Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks. The answer will signal how strictly the Commission intends to enforce the affordability conditions attached to NRRP-funded student housing, with direct implications for Italian students, university administrators, construction firms involved in the projects, and national authorities managing the recovery plan.