Hi all, can anyone give me advice on

Hi JCStop, stop everything!Under Italian law, you can not take a bathroom with access from the kitchen - but you need to create a room to divide the kitchen from the bathroom - or any other room that is not a bedroom - this room, in technical terms, is call <antibagno> .For my experience  ( Non-Italian's mortgage broker - from 20 years ) , when the costs of the house to buy begin to grow, after an agreement has been made on the price, it means that it is time to change - home to buy and real estate agent (he all these news  , knew them even before agreeing ..)Also, you can not connect the bathroom drains, with the kitchen drains.So it will be necessary to build a new drainage pipe for the bathroom, and if the house is old,believe me, the cost of sanitary furnishings will be totally negligible (around 1000 euros) and their implementation (around 3000 euros with the pipes), compared to the creation of a new drainage pipe inside the ancient walls, in addition, of course, to a new sewage pit <fossa imoff> that between purchase and installation, will cost around 3000 euros 

Hi Ugo, thanks so much for your reply. Our lawyer and the commune said we could have a bathroom next to the kitchen so long as they both have independent entrances, with no means of accessing between the two.I will ask them again and mention the antibagno! We used to have the same law in the UK about having a room inbetween but now it is not neccessary.That's really helpful to know on pipes and cost!Thanks again - appreciate you taking the time to give me a comprehensive answer and the warning about the antibagno.

Hi Jclawyer says .., mayor says ..if everyone did, well, do their job, instead of doing badly what others have studied, and obtained a degree https://www.homify.it/librodelleidee/5424261/antibagno-obbligatorio-normativa-e-misure-minimehttps://www.pgcasa.it/articoli/bagno-doccia/antibagno-obbligatorio-normativa-per-case-e-locali-pubblici__6307https://www.pianetadesign.it/normative/antibagno-obbligatorio-normativa.php  

Hello JC JCI’d just say be careful as Ugo said, we were caught out.  We wanted to remove a wall, allowed the agent and her geomatra husband do it, only to find out the plans had not been agreed at the Commune.  It was an ‘informal agreement’.  When wanting to sell, it’s no use.  We spent a fourtune, if only we knew what was ahead, we would have ran. It could be a different story for you and I hope if you go ahead it is.  Good luck.

Hello JC, Sounds messy, but it is not untypical in buying negotiations in Italy. It sounds like you are still in a relatively good negotiating position.I am an architect and I can recommend some reliable builders in the Canelli area, which is not too far away from Alba. If you send me an email to info@rinovaprojects.com I can reply with their details.However, I sometimes carry pre-purchase Due Diligence for clients and these types of little hitches are very common. What we do is to put them into a report and on the basis of this report and a sum of money we calculate, as reasonably as possible – but in favour of the client (buyer), a discount is proposed to be subtracted from the offered price, with the idea that the house is bought with all these little hitches that need to be sorted out by the buyer, but compensated by the sum of money subtracted from offered price. Why do you not suggest to the realtor to do that? Or walk away, as it sounds as the realtor is not taking you seriously.  

Hi JC,I agree 100% with Ugo & Ronco! I'm an 'recupero' architect and when you're buying property with abusive anything...DON'T! Working with the infrastructure for old buildings = thick walls..which do not always mean strong walls, entails lots of money ....as Ugo wroteSo it will be necessary to build a new drainage pipe for the bathroom, and if the house is old,believe me, the cost of sanitary furnishings will be totally negligible (around 1000 euros) and their implementation (around 3000 euros with the pipes), compared to the creation of a new drainage pipe inside the ancient walls, in addition, of course, to a new sewage pit <fossa imoff> that between purchase and installation, will cost around 3000 euros.I'd talk to my collegue Ronco who answered above, better to be safe than sorry! Good Luck!