It is a monstrous figure that can be obtained, only theoretically, from the sale of all public real estate assets, the value of which amounts to approximately 340 billion euros.
This is a preliminary estimate provided by the director of the Finance and Privatization Department of the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Economy, Francesco Parlato, during the hearing on the management, rationalization and enhancement of public real estate assets before the Finance Commission of the Chamber.
The estimate was obtained by evaluating the state property on the base of balance sheet value (55 billion) and those of other administrations at average market prices elaborated by the Real Estate Market Observatory of the Land Agency (approx 285 billion).
Parlato presented some of the results of the "Heritage of the Public Administration" project launched by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and of which a first phase of data collection on real estate and public administration shareholdings was completed in 2011.
The data communicated by the administrations relate to over 530.000 properties for a total area of over 222 million square meters.
80% of the real estate units are held by local administrations, while il 70% of the surface is used for carrying out institutional activities and 47% of the units is intended for residential use, mostly held by Municipalities, social security institutions and Iacp. Data that make the assets crystallized and very inhomogeneous, making the sale of properties particularly difficult, especially from a regulatory point of view.
In recent months, the debate on the opportunity to privatize part of public assets to reduce debt has become important. Many proposals have been put forward by various parties, but the hyperbolic figures that have sometimes been talked about (someone imagines bringing the debt/GDP ratio below 100 by selling state assets and peripheral entities) seem far from objectives that can be realistically achieved, especially given the failure of securitization attempts a decade ago and the scarcely liquid conditions of the market.
