First Home Fund 2026: who can access the Consap guarantee and what has changed since 3 August

Updated 5 October 2026.

First-time buyers rarely get stuck on the monthly repayment. They get stuck earlier, on the down payment. Many people already manage a monthly payment because they pay rent. Putting together 20% of the price, plus taxes and notary fees, is another matter, especially for people who have only just started working.

This is why the First Home Guarantee Fund exists. Consap manages it on behalf of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The State guarantees part of the loan principal to the bank, which makes a mortgage easier to obtain for certain categories of buyers. Since 3 August 2026 the fund has been open to new categories linked to disability. Meanwhile, a misleading simplification keeps circulating: the idea that "with Consap, the State finances 80% of your home." That is not how it works, and it is worth understanding why before you start house hunting with that figure in mind.

Consap does not lend money

You still apply for the mortgage with a bank or financial intermediary that takes part in the scheme. Consap comes in afterwards, providing a public guarantee on part of the loan principal.

Many people learn one consequence of this too late: being admitted to the Fund does not mean you will get the mortgage. Consap itself points out that the loan remains subject to the bank's own independent assessment. The bank still looks at your income, your ability to repay, your financial situation and the property you want to buy. The guarantee takes part of the risk off the bank, but it does not take away the bank's judgement.

Who can access the Fund in 2026

Since 1 January 2025 the Fund has no longer been open to everyone who meets the general requirements. The law reserves it for specific categories. These currently include:

• young couples who are married or have lived together for at least two years, where at least one partner is under 36;
• single-parent families with minor children;
• tenants living in housing owned by the autonomous public housing institutes (IACP);
• young people under 36;
• large families: three children under 21 with an ISEE of up to €40,000, four children with an ISEE of up to €45,000, five or more children with an ISEE of up to €50,000.

Since 3 August 2026, two more categories have been added to this list.

What has changed since 3 August 2026

Law no. 116 of 2 July 2026 converted into law Decree-Law no. 66 of 7 May 2026 on the Housing Plan and widened the group of people eligible for the Fund. It is now also open to people with a certified permanent disability under Article 3(3) of Law 104/1992. It is also open to members of a household where a son, daughter, brother or sister of the applicant in the same condition has lived for at least two years.

It pays to be precise about the dates, because both are in circulation. The law has been in force since 4 July 2026, while Consap set 3 August as the date from which it applies the new Fund rules and published the updated forms on that same day.

Do you need to own no other property?

Generally, yes: on the date of your application you must not own any other residential property, including abroad. The exception is a home received through inheritance, even if co-owned with other heirs, provided it is made available free of charge to your parents or siblings.

Bare ownership, usufruct and rights acquired through inheritance are special cases. They must be assessed under the Fund's rules, not under what is usually meant by "first home".

The first-home Fund and tax benefits are not the same thing

The Consap guarantee and the first-home purchase tax benefits come from different laws and have different requirements. Qualifying for one does not automatically qualify you for the other, so each needs to be checked on its own.

How large the mortgage can be, and what it can be used for

The loan eligible for the Fund cannot exceed €250,000. You can use it to buy your main residence, to buy it and renovate it at the same time with works that improve its energy efficiency, or to buy a property by taking over a portion of the developer's mortgage after it has been split. It does not apply to a mortgage taken out only to renovate a home you already own.

Properties that are excluded

The home must become the main residence of the borrower and cannot fall under cadastral categories A/1 (high-end homes), A/8 (villas) or A/9 (castles and buildings of outstanding artistic or historical value). It also must not have the luxury features defined by the regulations the Fund refers to.

In Umbria this point matters more than elsewhere. A listing may describe a renovated farmhouse or a detached house in the countryside as a "villa", but the word used in the listing tells you nothing about the cadastral category: a property described as a villa may be registered quite differently, and vice versa. To find out whether a home is eligible, look at the cadastral certificate (visura catastale), not the description.

50, 80, 85 or 90%: what is actually guaranteed

This is where most of the confusion arises. The standard guarantee covers 50% of the loan principal and can be higher if the legal requirements are met.

For some priority categories it rises to 80% when the mortgage exceeds 80% of the purchase price, including ancillary costs, and the income requirements are met. Large families can reach 80% with at least three children and the corresponding ISEE limit, 85% with four, and 90% with five or more. These higher guarantees have been extended until 31 December 2027.

For the new disability-related categories, Consap indicates a 50% guarantee, which rises to 80% with an ISEE of no more than €40,000 per year.

A worked example

Imagine a €180,000 mortgage that meets the conditions for the 80% guarantee. Consap does not pay €144,000 to the buyer. The public guarantee covers 80% of the principal for the bank, and at the start of the mortgage in this example that comes to €144,000. As you pay your instalments, the outstanding principal goes down, and the guaranteed amount goes down with it. The only money you ever receive is the mortgage amount the bank grants you.

So is a 100% mortgage possible?

A bank can grant a loan that is very high compared with the price of the home, and the enhanced guarantee counts most in its decision above the 80% threshold. However, the guarantee does not entitle you to a 100% mortgage. The final decision always rests with the bank.

If there is one thing to sort out before you even view a property, it is this. Knowing that you qualify for the Fund is useful. Having a bank's formal approval based on your income is something else, and that is what really tells you how high you can go on price.

How to apply

You do not submit it to Consap yourself. You hand it to a participating bank or intermediary together with your mortgage application, and the bank forwards it. Updated forms have been available since 3 August 2026, and Consap states that only the official templates provided by Consap, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) or the Italian Banking Association (ABI) may be used.

Before you set up a purchase that relies on the guarantee, check two things: that your chosen bank actually takes part in the scheme, and that your transaction meets every requirement, including those on the property.

The Fund helps, but you still need a down payment

The public guarantee can make it easier to get a mortgage with a high ratio between the loan and the value of the home (the Loan to Value). The other costs of buying still apply, though, and you should budget for them from the start. Depending on the transaction, they may include:

• purchase taxes;
• notary fees for the deed of sale and for the mortgage deed;
• the estate agent's fee, if you buy through an agency;
• the bank's valuation and arrangement fees;
• any insurance policies linked to the mortgage;
• money for renovation work, moving and furnishing, which almost everyone underestimates in the rush of buying their first home.

Our practical advice is to do two separate sums: how much you can ask the bank for, and how much you need to have saved regardless, with or without the guarantee. The second figure is the one that decides which home you can afford.

If you are looking for a home in or around Todi

If you plan to use the Fund, tell us when you ask us about a property. We will check the cadastral category before the viewing, because it is better to know straight away than to find out once negotiations have started that the property is not eligible. For a first estimate of your monthly payment, you can use our calculator; for anything about your income and the guarantee, your bank is still the place to go.