UP TO € 20,000 TO RENOVATE YOUR TOURIST APARTMENT IN FVG: HOW THE 2026 CALL WORKS

Renovating an apartment intended for tourist rentals can require a major investment. An outdated bathroom, inefficient systems, windows and doors that need to be replaced or outdated furnishings can reduce the attractiveness of the property, worsen guest reviews and limit its profitability. To encourage the improvement of the accommodation offer, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region has opened the 2026 Call for Proposals for the modernization of furnished housing units for tourist use. The regional contribution can reach up to 20,000 euros for each real estate unit and can finance not only furniture and appliances, but also numerous building and plant works. The regulation allows applications for a maximum of four properties for each beneficiary. The opportunity is concrete, but it requires careful preparation: it is not enough to own a tourist apartment and fill out an online application. Before sending, the owner’s requirements, the location of the property, the relationship with the management agency, the interventions to be carried out and the correctness of the estimates must be verified. So let’s see, in a simple way, who can participate, which works can be financed and what mistakes are important to avoid.

THE 2026 CALL AT A GLANCE

The contribution is aimed at owners who are natural persons of furnished housing units for tourist use located in Friuli Venezia Giulia. For each apartment, the contribution provided is between 10,000 and 20,000 euros, up to a maximum of four real estate units for each beneficiary. The total financial allocation for 2026 is 3 million euros. Applications are evaluated with an over-the-counter procedure, following the chronological order of submission and within the limits of available resources. The application can be submitted: from 9.00 a.m. on 10 July 2026 to 4.00 p.m. on 10 September 2026. The submission must be made exclusively through the regional system Instances On Line, using SPID, CIE or CNS. Since the order of presentation also matters, waiting for the last few days could mean arriving when the available resources have already been committed.  

 

WHO CAN APPLY FOR THE CONTRIBUTION

Owners who are natural persons of apartments intended for tourist rentals and located in the regional territory can participate. The call is therefore not aimed at companies that own the properties and specifies that sole proprietorships are not among the beneficiaries. Each person can apply for the contribution for a maximum of four real estate units. The property must be regularly included in the circuit of tourist rentals. Depending on the way in which the activity is carried out, it will be necessary to have the relevant SCIA or the communication submitted to the competent Municipality, in addition to the National Identification Code – CIN. In the presence of more than one owner, the application is submitted by only one of the co-owners, with the power of attorney of the others. It is also possible to appoint a professional or other person to submit the electronic submission, provided that the relevant power of attorney is prepared. A special case concerns real estate over which there is a right of usufruct. For calls after 2021, the regional FAQs specify that the application must be submitted by the bare owner. These aspects must be clarified before preparing the project, because an error in the identification of the applicant can compromise the admissibility of the application.  

THE PROPERTY MUST BE ENTRUSTED TO AN AUTHORIZED MANAGER

One of the most important elements of the tender is the obligation to entrust the property to a real estate agency or a management company belonging to the regional system. The owner must identify the manager and sign a bilateral agreement before submitting the application. With this document, the parties undertake, in the event of the grant being granted, to enter into a contract for the management of the apartment with a minimum duration of eight years. It is therefore not possible to choose just any agency on the market. The person in charge must be duly registered in the appropriate regional list. For the owner, this means that the choice of the manager cannot be postponed until the end of the work: it is one of the preliminary activities necessary to access the contribution.  

THE EIGHT-YEAR CONSTRAINT: WHAT IT REALLY MEANS

Those who receive the contribution must keep the property in the tourist rental market for at least eight years, through the contract stipulated with the manager adhering to the regional system. The period starts from the signing of the contract or from the completion of the works, when these are concluded later. This is an important commitment. The call is therefore particularly suitable for those who intend to preserve and make an income from the apartment in the medium-long term, while it may be unsuitable for those who plan to sell it in the short term or to use it permanently for personal use. The owner can still reserve the personal use of a single real estate unit for a maximum of three weeks per season, without interrupting the constraint provided for by the contribution. During the eight years, a declaration confirming the maintenance of the obligations assumed must also be submitted by 31 March of each year.  

WHAT WORKS CAN BE FINANCED

One of the most interesting aspects of the call is the breadth of the interventions admitted. The contribution can finance expansion, renovation, modernization and extraordinary maintenance works, as well as the purchase of furniture, equipment and appliances for the tourist apartment. Eligible expenses include, in particular:

1. renovation of the internal flooring;
2. renovation of the floors of balconies and terraces;
3. replacement of coatings and plasters;
4. interior painting;
5. repair or replacement of doors, fixtures and windows;
6. interventions on the electrical system;
7. renovation of the heating system;
8. renovation of the water-sanitary system;
9. replacement of sanitary ware;
10. installation or adaptation of air conditioning;
11. installation of burglar alarm systems;
12. awnings, intercoms, video intercoms and antennas.

Interior and exterior furnishings, large appliances and the related transport and assembly costs can also be financed. On the other hand, expenses for goods subject to easy wear and tear, such as linen, crockery, consumables, paintings and simple decorative objects, are excluded .  

IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO BUY FURNITURE: YOU NEED A COHERENT PROJECT

The availability of a contribution of up to 20,000 euros does not mean that it is convenient to buy goods or plan work without an overall valuation of the property. Before requesting estimates, it is advisable to establish which interventions can really improve:

• the quality of the environments;
• the comfort of guests;
• the efficiency of the systems;
• the image of the apartment;
• ease of maintenance;
• the value and profitability of the property.

In some properties, redoing the bathroom may be a priority; in others, replace the windows, improve the air conditioning or completely renovate the internal distribution. The choice should start from an analysis of the existing state and not from the simple desire to use all the available contribution. A well-thought-out project also allows you to correctly coordinate building works, systems and furnishings, avoiding the purchase of elements that subsequently have to be modified, moved or replaced.  

HOW MUCH CAN BE ACHIEVED

The regulation establishes a contribution of between 10,000 and 20,000 euros for each apartment, up to four units per single beneficiary. Professional expenses relating to the interventions are also eligible, within the limit of 10% of the eligible expenditure and in any case up to a maximum of 2,000 euros. This allows you to include in the economic framework also a part of the services necessary to correctly design and manage the intervention. However, it is essential to prepare detailed and consistent estimates. The Region will establish in the concession measure both the amount of the eligible expenditure and the actual amount of the contribution. A withholding tax of 4% is also applied during the liquidation phase, as provided for in the 2026 Notice.  

WHAT DOCUMENTS ARE NEEDED

The application is not limited to filling out an online form. The owner must attach a presentation of the project, a detailed report of the interventions and the related cost estimates. The following must also be prepared:

• the declaration relating to the applicant’s requirements;
• the details of the SCIA or communication to the Municipality;
• the CIN of the property;
• the preliminary agreement with the manager;
• the documentation relating to the “de minimis” regime;
• any powers of attorney in the case of co-ownership or presentation by proxy.

The application must also certify that no other contributions have been requested to finance the same expenses. This phase is decisive. A generic estimate, an unclear report or a missing document can slow down the investigation and require subsequent additions.  

ATTENTION: WORK MUST NOT START BEFORE THE APPLICATION

This is probably the most dangerous mistake. Initiatives must be launched after the application has been submitted. Only expenses incurred from the day after submission and up to the deadline for reporting are eligible. Consequently, before applying, you should not:

• start the works;
• purchase furniture or appliances;
• make payments;
• pay advances to suppliers relating to the expenses to be financed.

Even when the owner has already decided to proceed, it is prudent to wait for the actual submission of the application before making financial commitments. Invoices must be in the name of the beneficiary and payments must be made through traceable instruments linked to an account in the name of the same owner: bank or postal transfer, bank receipt, postal order, credit card or debit card. Cash payment does not allow the expense to be correctly demonstrated and determines its ineligibility.  

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO CARRY OUT THE INTERVENTION

After the grant has been granted, the beneficiary has a maximum of 18 months to complete the intervention and submit the related report. The term starts from the receipt of the PEC with which the concession measure is communicated. Within this period, the work must therefore be completed, the furnishings delivered, the invoices paid and all the required documentation collected. Eighteen months may seem like a long time, but for an intervention that involves design, building permits, ordering windows and doors, coordinating systems and supplying furnishings, it does not represent too much time. For this reason, it is useful to prepare a realistic timetable from the beginning.  

THE MOST FREQUENT MISTAKES TO AVOID

The main critical issues do not only concern the compilation of the application, but the setting up of the entire operation. The most common mistakes include:

• choose an operator not admitted by the regional system;
• sign the agreement with the agency after the application;
• start work or pay a deposit too early;
• submit estimates that are incomplete or inconsistent with the report;
• enter ineligible expenses;
• use credentials of a different person without power of attorney;
• not consider the management constraint for eight years;
• modify the project after the concession without communicating it;
• use payments that are not properly traceable.

The problem is not only to obtain the contribution. It is also necessary to report it correctly and keep it over time, respecting the obligations provided. The violation of the constraint can in fact lead to a total or partial revocation of the contribution, with percentages that decrease progressively depending on the year in which the obligation is interrupted.  

WHY IT IS USEFUL TO BE FOLLOWED BY A TECHNICIAN

An effective application does not arise from the simple compilation of the regional platform. It is necessary to start from the property, verify which works are really necessary, identify any building titles, prepare a coherent economic framework and correctly coordinate companies, installers, furniture suppliers and tourist manager. The technician’s task is not only to describe the work, but to help the owner transform the contribution into a concrete and useful intervention, avoiding that the resources are distributed over disconnected purchases. A preliminary consultation allows you to understand:

• if the owner and the property meet the requirements;
• which interventions can be allowed;
• what overall investment is needed;
• what authorizations must be submitted;
• which estimates to request;
• how to organize jobs and payments;
• if the operation is really convenient.

  OUR SUPPORT FOR THE 2026 CALL Our firm assists the owners of tourist properties in the evaluation and technical management of the intervention. We can take care of the preliminary verification of eligibility, the analysis of the property, the definition of the works, the preparation of the technical report and the economic framework, the coordination of estimates and the documentation necessary for the application. When required, we can also follow the subsequent phases of design, building practice, construction management and expense reporting. The goal is not simply to submit an application, but to build an intervention that allows you to really renovate the apartment, increase its quality and enhance its ability to produce income over time.