ROME – When Kim Inglehart moved to Italy from London more than 30 years ago, she faced a bureaucratic nightmare trying to organize her new life.
“In Italy, a young woman got off a plane with her two Labradors, went to the third door on the left on the second floor, came back, paid the tax, then went to the second door on the right on the fourth floor and came back. “Imagine being told: , please stamp the document and send it back,” the 55-year-old recalls.
A few years later, with the help of her 18-year-old daughter, she founded a company to help people emigrate from the UK.
Inglehart said spending four straight hours getting documents approved upon arrival made her want to “reduce this kind of stress for other people who want to move to Italy.” talk.
In 2022, she founded Finding La Dolce Vita (FLDV), which supports Britons relocating across Italy through the entire process, including finding a property and opening a bank account.
Her agency’s headquarters and home are in the countryside of Macerata, a quiet town in the Marche region, where she lives in a five-bedroom cottage that costs 850 euros a month.
“Since 1990, I have considered Italy my home,” she said, adding that “it took a force of nature” to leave Italy.
Ms Englehart, a single mother who speaks fluent Italian, was born in Sydney to a Scottish mother and a London-born German father. She spent her 20s living in Hong Kong and London, studying art and languages in Rome, and before launching her FLDV she worked at a glassblowing design company.
Inglehart says the real driving force was her daughter Boston Alexandra’s passion. Alexandra said she took an online course from the British College of Business Management to prepare for her job.
“Without her, FLDV would never exist,” says Englehart, whose daughter created the website and runs the company’s social media accounts.
She says she considers herself Australian. “However, the place we are closest to our ‘roots’ so to speak is Italy, where our hearts are strong.”
Ms Inglehart says two factors are key for Brits wanting to move to Italy: cost of living and house prices.
“The median house price per square meter in the UK is £2,936, but in Italy it’s just £1,366,” she says. In many towns in the south, the price for a property of 80 square meters can be as little as 50,000 euros.
She says people living in Italy typically pay £1,000 less a month in rent and utilities, but the average wage is also significantly lower than in the UK, at around €1,800.
“The median monthly cost of living for a single person, including rent and utilities, is £1,307 in Italy compared to £2,299 in the UK,” she added.
She said navigating Italy’s red tape, tackling language barriers, meeting visa and residency requirements and obtaining medical cards can be difficult for Brits, especially after Brexit. He said there is.
Also, “When buying a property in Italy, the legal complexities can be very complicated: opaque title deeds, undisclosed debts (on the property), no building permits or renovation certificates. There can be a lot of risks involved, including housing.”
She regularly liaises with her clients’ local police departments regarding immigration issues and city hall regarding residence permits.
After seeing many of her clients struggle, she learned how to make life easier. After leaving the EU, household goods brought into Italy from the UK will normally be subject to customs duties, but it will be possible to arrange residency before the goods arrive and the owner will be exempt from duty.
She says foreigners have to double prepare all their documents before applying for a visa, even those not listed on the consulate’s website, and that those documents are often “not up to date.” ”.
She warns that the rental agreement must be registered or the residence application will be invalidated.
Ms Inglehart has helped UK clients obtain special tax rates approved by the Italian Government.
“We recently helped a young couple in London settle permanently, benefiting from a new tax system where only 10 per cent of income is taxed, aimed at attracting highly skilled professionals from overseas. Did.”
She said the London couple was looking for a fresh start and lower income tax compared to the UK.