Casa Aura
Our home among the olive groves near the Torre Guaceto nature reserve, built from scratch. Everything in this guide comes from finding, planning and building it.
An insider's guide by Eric Phelps and Gianluca Di Emma, who have bought, planned and built in Puglia. 100 towns profiled and rated, which towns qualify for Italy's 7% flat tax, planning and the Piano Casa, the truth about living in a trullo, and the agents I trust.
Get the guide See sample pagesDelivered instantly as a downloadable PDF guide (49 pages, 100 towns). The Complete edition adds the Base Finder matching tool, which opens in any web browser.
An honest synopsis of each town from Bari and the Murgia to Leuca, rated 1–5 on amenities, facilities, train and bus links, beach, airport, beauty, value for money and ease of planning.
Which towns stay alive in January, and which coastal towns go almost silent from autumn to spring: great for a visit, harder to live in.
How easy each area makes renovation and new-build permission, with a guide to how much you can build for a given plot size.
Which towns fall within Italy's 7% flat-tax regime for eligible retirees, so you can shortlist with tax in mind.
How much you can build on your land, and what the current rules (Regional Law 36/2023, which replaced the Piano Casa) allow for extensions and rebuilds.
The practical truth: odd-shaped rooms, damp, cold winters, the roof, and what to check before you buy.
The estate agents and developers I trust, and the step-by-step buying process with typical costs.
Enter your priorities (budget, coast or countryside, airport distance, tax, lifestyle) and get a shortlist of towns that fit.
Short extracts from the guide. The full profiles include property price bands, planning notes and practical contacts.
Planning ease:
A working town that stays open all year, with restaurants and bars busy through winter. Its strengths are a comparatively straightforward planning environment, easy access to the Adriatic beaches and a short drive to Brindisi airport. A practical base for people who want to live in Puglia, not just visit.
Lifestyle:
The Valle d'Itria lifestyle without the summer crowds of its better-known neighbours. Ceglie has a lively historic centre, a strong food culture and enough going on in winter to feel like a real community. At 18,363 residents it qualifies for the 7% flat tax under both the old and new population caps.
Ostuni and Carovigno largely shut down from January to March, and the coastal towns are very seasonal: beautiful to visit, extremely quiet to live in off-season. If you plan to spend winters in Puglia, the guide shows which inland towns keep their bars, shops and restaurants open all year.
Our home among the olive groves near the Torre Guaceto nature reserve, built from scratch. Everything in this guide comes from finding, planning and building it.
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We're Eric Phelps and Gianluca Di Emma, the authors of the guide. We first came to Puglia in 2018 looking for a holiday home. Then Covid changed things for us, as it did for so many people, and we started looking for somewhere more permanent to settle.
We set out to build a home for the future, and ended up building one from scratch: Casa Aura, a nine-bedroom house with eight bathrooms and six kitchens, set in three hectares of olive groves near the Torre Guaceto nature reserve. For now it's our escape and the start of a holiday-letting business. Our dream is to live here full time once we've both retired.
Along the way we learned how much the choice of town shapes everything that follows: planning, building costs, tax, and what daily life is really like in January as well as August. This guide is the research we wish we'd had at the start, so you can shortlist with confidence before you spend money on viewings and flights.
Follow our story on Instagram: @casaauraitaly
Questions? Email us at casaauraitaly@gmail.com.
No. The guide is general information based on personal experience and research. Always take advice from a qualified Italian lawyer (avvocato), notary (notaio), tax adviser and surveyor (geometra) before buying or building.
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