The system of super bonuses and building bonuses has collapsed. And problems are overwhelming everything: government accounts, businesses and citizens. Finding that costs are out of control, the Meloni government is reviewing home renovation incentives downwards, but while we wait to understand what will happen from 2024, the problems in the construction sector are tangible. The bubble is at risk of bursting due to bad loans, business stoppages, companies disappearing or condominium owners not being able to pay: about 1 million families are involved in this situation. It seems we have reached checkmate: any choice will be painful. Today.it spoke about this issue with those directly involved, namely the “Super Bonus Exit”, a group of companies and residents who now feel defrauded by the State. Their stories of hardship are an alarm for politics, but it remains to be seen how it will react.
What will happen to building bonuses: the majority will be divided
The debate on how to manage the future of Super Bonuses and bonus creation is coming to a head. The budget law is on the horizon, but the government majority appears divided: Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti proposes limiting existing aid, while Forza Italia proposes amendments to expand funds needed to complete renovations in apartment buildings.
“The measures paid for by all Italians affected less than 3 percent of existing real estate, first and second homes by the sea and in the mountains, 3 percent of rich and poor. They also affected six castles.”
Giorgetti has expressed his “tummy aches” regarding the Superbonus several times (his own words, ed.) and has now declared: “It is not the Government’s intention to continue the expansion of the measures regarding the interventions in the hitherto known ways.” “. However, it is not yet clear what will happen. There was talk of an extension that could also cover flat owners, but it would only cover those who have made at least 60 percent progress in construction by December 31, 2023. The problem is that under these conditions, approximately ten thousand flat owners will suffer. It has been left out, according to estimates produced by the National Confederation of Craftsmen and Small and Medium Enterprises (Cna), so residents will find themselves facing costs they did not expect. Without an extension, the number will double and residents of more than twenty thousand apartments will be at risk of extra costs.
The problem is that no matter what choice the Government makes, the situation will not be resolved: starting from the current Enea data according to Today.it calculations and assuming the expansion of ten thousand apartments that do not fall within the scope of the EU according to Cna. In case of cancellation of the Superbonus, the state will have to finance the measures with 1.6 billion dollars, thus allowing flat owners to continue to benefit from the aid. Without this extension, residents would have had to return 6.3 billion euros to the state. And at that point the bubble will be ready to burst. However, it is not just the expansion of apartment buildings that worries the sector.
“If construction stops, apartment residents will be flooded”: photos of the distress
Credit is currently one of the biggest concerns in the construction industry. After the blockade decided by the Meloni government in February 2023, the system is blocked: according to the National Association of Building Contractors (ANCE), there are 30 billion. “The extension is a fake problem,” one freelancer tells Today.it. If the obstacle to credit transfer is not removed, construction sites will come to a halt. What has been done so far with amendments and decrees has not worked: the mechanism is stuck. Companies need to make money.”
The situation is described as “dramatic”. Some practical examples: “On a construction site in Ostia they had to dismantle the scaffolding, the building was left in half: one part covered with masonry covered with insulation material – Eps -, the other with the original facade. It cost 5 thousand euros per month to keep the scaffolding standing, but the construction “The company had to dismantle the scaffolding because the site stopped waiting for a loan.”
Loan brokers with interest rates
“If I go bankrupt tomorrow, condominium owners will find themselves under water – one entrepreneur who is among the “excluded” workers tells Today.it: “They can have indefinite extensions, the problem is that the credit system is blocked”. Average among the statements collected by Today As a result, amounts worth between 2 and 6 million euros were revealed in each company’s belly due to the blocking of loans.
They informed us of “several construction sites” where there were companies that were stopped, had no money and did not start working again, even with the facade bonus: “Floor owners are desperate and do not know how to solve the problem.” Conflict. The solution would still be to involve the banks, but Credits must be protected. Thus fueling a parallel credit market with usury buying percentages. Everyone improvises like a broker trying to buy loans, taking advantage of companies’ desperate need for liquidity. ”
The “exit” of Superbonus: “Excessive gestures, defrauded by the state, will come”
Blocked loans are unanimously accepted as the main problem of the issue. As can be seen from the photos below posted on Today.it, companies complain about the lack of liquidity and are forced to stop business or quit altogether. Companies and citizens involved in these issues formed the group “Superbonus 110% laid off workers”, which organized protest sit-ins through social channels. The collective obtained several interviews with government officials and politicians in general.
Super jackpot escapes, testimonies
In July 2023, representatives of the laid-off workers were received by Minister Giorgetti to write the decree that will replace the Superbonus. However, group members say that the recommendations agreed on the table have been “forgotten”. “We were supposed to write the decree together, they agreed to our terms, including the condominium extension, then they went on vacation and disappeared, the decree was thrown in the trash. There is no political will, now Meloni wants to show that he is just as determined.” “It happened with the income of the citizens”, it was the explosion of one of the migrations.
“The Democratic Party promised to help us, but Schlein disappeared”
The feeling is that concerned citizens, regardless of their political orientation, feel excluded by politics. The criticism also falls on the Democratic Party and Elly Schlein: “They have a huge opportunity to help us, we had met and discussed with Schlein,” Carlo Boschetti, a member of the dismissed board, told Today.it. According to the data obtained from their balance sheets, they might have purchased the excess loan. Schlein promised to call the president of the association and talk about this issue, but nothing more came of it. They saved us, they profited from us politically, but they don’t. “Today, those who rescue the displaced receive millions of votes.”
To get the job done, residents have to ask for a loan, which is not easy to obtain. Some houses become uninhabitable due to business left behind by companies that have gone bankrupt or do not have the liquidity necessary to continue due to blockage. credit: “When will the disputes between the Revenue Administration, citizens and bankrupt companies begin, they will cause civil war. Nothing you see now: Cases will flood the courts, in two or three years the system will be in disarray. … We are heading for a drift. ” Between housing and economic problems, legal problems arise between those directly involved (condominium owners and businesses).
Condominium vs company fight begins: There are people sleeping in the caravan
There are many stories of hardship. On the other hand, the “immigration” quantified by the association of the same name is 320 thousand for a potential audience of more than one million. “I started working in July 2022 and from then on I never returned home. I paid 55 thousand euros in advance, then the Italian Post Office platform was blocked and my work was stopped, I became homeless,” a Rome resident told Today.it. For 15 months, the company gave me a payment order of 13 thousand euros. Now 34 to 38 thousand euros are required to complete the work. I don’t have any.” The photo below shows the caution the resident mentioned; the 68-year-old man is now forced to live in uncomfortable conditions with his mother-in-law and wife.
Other stories of hardship emerge from the testimonies collected, such as homeowners being forced to live in caravans or generally living away from home because their homes were partially demolished and not rebuilt due to renovations being halted. Some went into debt, asking for a loan of 81 thousand euros to start over.
The exasperation is palpable: ‘Decree after decree, until something big happens, an act of desperation. We still don’t know how to file taxes to figure out what to cut. Until you explain to me how to do it, I don’t know.’ “I don’t know what to do from here. I’m leaving. Even the Internal Revenue Service can’t tell us that. Disagreements will lead to civil war, the courts will be overwhelmed with paperwork.”
And as one industry professional explained to Today.it, disputes between companies and condominium owners are a major consequence of the problems seen so far. An example: “When the first 25 percent of work in an apartment goes for 1.5 million euros, the company realizes that it cannot finish them and leaves. If the apartment cannot find another apartment, it has to return 380 thousand euros – 25 percent realized, ed. -.” But it is not appropriate for someone else to take over.” The budget bill is approaching, the challenges are tangible and it puts the construction industry and a million families at risk: the ball is in the government’s court.
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Source: Today IT
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
