If you are buying a house in Puglia, the most useful person you hire may not be the agent or even the notary. It is the geometra, and if you do not read Italian, a geometra who works in English turns a pile of plans and permits into something you can actually weigh before you sign.
What a geometra does
A geometra is a licensed technical professional, registered with the provincial Collegio dei Geometri, who sits somewhere between a surveyor, a building inspector and a small-scale architect. In a purchase, a good one checks three things on your behalf: the building itself, the cadastral records, and the planning history held at the town hall.
The agent works for the sale, and in Italy is usually paid by both parties. The notary checks title and drafts the deed, but does not inspect the house or compare it with the permits. The geometra you hire works only for you. Our guide to agents and buyers in Italy explains how the roles fit together.
Before you make an offer
Bring the geometra to a viewing before you sign a reservation or a preliminary contract. An experienced eye picks up structural cracks, damp in the vaults, a closed-in veranda or a room that appears on no plan. Then ask for the paperwork check: the cadastral plan, the building permits and any amnesties (condoni) pulled from the town hall archive, compared with what is actually built. This is the heart of cadastral and planning compliance, and problems here can delay a sale, block a mortgage or leave you with the cost of putting things right.
In the south, many older houses also lack a certificate of habitability. That is not always a reason to walk away, but you should know before you agree a price.
Why English matters
Technical reports, town hall correspondence and the notary’s draft deed are all in Italian, and the details that matter are in the small print. A geometra who works in English lets you follow the report line by line and ask the right questions, rather than relying on a summary from someone who wants the sale to close.
On a first visit to a stone house in the Salento countryside, the conversation tends to go quiet in the same places: under a fresh coat of whitewash, beside a newer wall, at the bottom of a staircase someone added later. Those are the spots to ask about.
After the sale
The same professional can carry a renovation: a measured survey, often with a laser scanner, drawings, the permit applications or a change of use, and supervision on site, coordinating builders, plumbers and electricians. If you will be abroad for much of the work, someone with authority on site is worth more than any photo update.
Finding one
Ask for a written quote with a fixed scope and fee before any work starts, and check that the geometra is registered with the local Collegio. In Lecce, Michele Sozzo is one geometra who works in English and only for buyers, offering pre-purchase inspections, technical due diligence and renovation support. Other English-speaking geometri work across the region; ask other buyers and your notary for names.
Worth the fee
A geometra costs money, but far less than a planning problem discovered after the deed. Bring one in early, ideally before you make an offer, and you will buy with a clear picture of what you are getting. For the full sequence, see our guide to buying a home in Puglia.
