Advice about accommodation in Rome

Hi lewisb!

Welcome to Expat.com!

Armand

Hi LewisB
Like you, I will be moving to Roma and need advice on living expenses and areas to live in. I won't be moving until sept for financial reasons, I applaud you for taking the plunge right away instead of waiting!
I am looking to share rented accomodation when I go over, so I'm looking at around 400-500 euro per month rent. It's alot for a room sharing with a few others but i figure a great way of meeting a few new people at least. In terms of living expenses, bills are around 100 euros if you share (if not a bit less) and transport (if you are planning on using public transport) is around 25 euro per month for buses and metro with a monthly pass. Food is not too bad from the markets. I live in London and to be honest, transport and rent is definately higher here than in Rome,but i know alot of Romans complain about the price of living. I guess it depends on salary.

If you are living with a family, your living expenses will be cheaper i'm sure, in exchange for perhaps speaking english with them. In terms of areas, if you're looking at the historic centre, Testaccio, Flaminia,Trastevere and San Giovani are nicer areas and relatively cheap to find accommmodation.

Like you, it will be my first time living abroad on my own, so I look forward to anyone else contributing advice! Good luck!

Hi Lewis, good luck on your adventure!  I have a blog on this website and today I just posted an article which addresses your questions exactly.  Check it out if you'd like...
Ciao!
Rick

Thanks for the replies everyone. And Rick... great work on the blog.

So... €1,000 is about what I need to get out there. I have my own online business — marketing consulting — which I'll be taking with me. So I've just got to prove that I can keep €1,000 coming in each month... and that I have health insurance, and I'm golden. That's right, isn't it?

That's some really cool info you have there Rick and I can't wait to get out there.

Hi Lewis, how are the plans coming along? Do you have any more questions?
Rick

Thanks for asking Rick.

I've been asking around, and UK citizens it seems do NOT need to get a residency permit... until they want to rent somewhere, buy a car, etc.

Is this an easy enough process in Rome?

I understand I need health insurance to get a residency permit? Do I get that in Italy, or here in the UK?

Hi Lewisb, I am UK citizen as well but i think after 3 months, you pretty much have to apply for  a residency permit, which includes having health insurance and proof of income or bank statement with around 5K euros. I will be renting when i first move over but I don't think you need a residency certificate for that...I hope not anyway! In order to get a residency certificate in the first place, you have to prove you have a permanent address. An official physically comes round to check you live there. I think Rick has written about this in the past,so I am sure Rick will advise if he knows about the process.

Hi Lewis,
A friend of mine wrote a very complete article about this topic here:
http://www.expatslivinginrome.com/GETTING-LEGAL.html
As far as health insurance, my understanding is that you can coverage in either country.  I bought mine in Italy for about 100 Euros a month, which is probably more than I needed to spend, but Americans are a bit paranoid of this issue, so I doubt you'd need that.  In fact, you can buy the Italian state insurance for about 700 a YEAR (at Agenzia delle Entrate).
However, as an English citizen, don't you have national insurance coverage? I believe proof of that would be sufficient, but don't quote me on that--since I'm not a UK citizen, I haven't really explored that completely.
good luck!
Rick

Thanks Rick! Yes Brits do have a Health Insurance card as part of the EU, when on vacation abroad or on a business trip. It covers basics like emergency care, although probably not viable long term if you're staying in Italy and want to apply for Resident's certificate. You can apply for health insurance in your own country though which they would accept, and there are lots of affordable deals online depending on your budget.

Thanks Rick. That post was a real eye-opener.

I think the biggest takeaway for me was: as soon as I've been in Rome a few weeks and decide I like it enough to stay more than six months, I need to begin this process ASAP... because it takes ages.