Just over a month ago, Dubai was the obvious destination for wealthy Britons in search of a new home. Few cities allow you to earn vast sums tax-free and spend them across any number of luxury hotels, restaurants and shops.
But as the United Arab Emirates comes under Iranian fire, Dubai’s reputation – in part created by emigrant influencers – as a haven for the global elite is eroding. Super-rich UK nationals are now looking for a route back to Europe; and Milan, the financial centre of Italy, is climbing to the top of the list.
“Italy has the best benefits: a flat tax and good quality of life,” says Armand Arton, a consultant who helps multimillionaire and billionaire families to relocate through investment citizenship schemes.
“People leaving the UAE can see themselves living in Rome or Milan quite easily as international, metropolitan centres.”
It is not hard to see why Milan, which is already home to some of the richest bankers, lawyers and investors in Europe, has become such a popular choice. Under Italy’s flat-tax regime, foreign residents can pay €300,000 (£259,620) a year on all overseas income – small change for the world’s wealthiest.
“We have always been an international city but it is changing,” says Diletta Giorgolo, who runs Sotheby’s residential real estate office in Italy’s economic and fashion capital.
“We have had our special tax regime since 2017, but when the UK ended its non-dom status, we had a wave of new buyers coming to Milan.”
Now, as the next wave of wealthy migrants turns its attention to the city, can Milan become the new home of the ultra-wealthy?
The ‘empty London’ tax break
The war in the Gulf has already sparked an exodus of wealthy UK nationals, though not all are willing to return home.
For many Europeans, Italy is the most strategic option. In contrast with the UK’s tighter rules, new Italian residents who have not paid taxes in the country for at least nine out of the past 10 years do not have to pay tax on their foreign income, in exchange for the €300,000 annual flat tax. They are then taxed on their Italian income and capital gains from investments within five years of opting for the flat tax.
Marc Acheson, at the financial planner Utmost Wealth Solutions, says Italy’s appeal has grown as the UK has become relatively less appealing for the super-rich. Such is the chatter in Milan that the Italian rule is said to be called “svuota Londra” or “evacuate London”.
“Even though Italy had its flat-tax regime in 2017, at €100,000 at the time, it was not attracting a deluge of people,” he says. “The abolition of the non-dom regime is what really spurred interest, and it came also just as Portugal was tightening its rules.”
“The regime is simple and people love it,” Acheson adds. “Italy is a lovely country, Milan has a deep financial services sector – many of the things that make London attractive, Milan has too.”
Roberto Bonomi, a partner at the law firm Withers, adds that Italy has also shaken off its reputation as a politically unstable destination. Giorgia Meloni, its populist prime minister, who has been in office since 2022, arrived in power with overtly far-right policies, although appears to have dialled down her ideology.
“At first there was some scepticism,” Bonomi says. “But after nine years we have shown that it is a stable system. Clients are no longer scared about Italy – and recent events show that uncertainty exists everywhere.”
La dolce vita – at a price
About 5,000 people have joined Italy’s flat-tax scheme so far, according to estimates by Maisto e Associati, an Italian law firm specialising in tax. At first many applicants were Italians who had been based in London, says Marco Cerrato, a partner at the firm.
“They typically worked in banking, insurance, asset management or for hedge funds. They had been in the UK the past decade and wanted to go back to Italy for personal and tax reasons,” he says.
“But then, after the pandemic, more people started coming, there was an exponential increase, and then again especially after the Tories announced that they would abolish the non-dom agreement.”
Another wave of interest is now emerging from the Gulf, Arton says. “Italy is quick at processing applications. So it is mainly attracting people leaving the region who want to relocate to Europe who want the benefit of the flat tax and the quality of life.”
The influx of a new, wealthy community is already driving up prices in Milan. Property prices have risen by 38% over the past five years, according to research by the estate agent Knight Frank.
Milan has recently overtaken Venice as the most expensive city in Italy, with an average price of €5,171 per sq metre in November 2025, according to the Italian property portal Idealista. The increases are even sharper in some of the most sought-after areas, such as Sant’Ambrogio, Brera, San Marco or the Cinque Vie, near the Duomo.
Giorgolo estimates that there are now between 30% and 40% more international buyers in the market than just two years ago.
“Before, international buyers were looking for a second home in Milan, or perhaps Lake Como, but now they are looking for residency in Italy. They want to be close to good international schools and major airports.”
Return of the brains
Other tax breaks include Il rientro dei cervelli (“Return of the brains”), which allows new or returning residents of Italy who meet certain criteria to pay tax on only 50% of their income for five years. Some bigger reductions are available for some residents.
But the million-dollar question is whether there is a ceiling on Italy’s flat-tax regime, Bonomi says, which has risen from €100,000 in 2017 to €200,000 in 2024, and to €300,000 at the start of this year. “The Italian government said they wanted to increase the flat tax because they want to build the country – we do not want unfair competition against other countries.”
There are still questions about how far Italy can push its advantage. Last year the former French prime minister François Bayrou accused Italy of “tax dumping”, claims that Meloni dismissed as “utterly baseless”.
In the meantime, life is changing fast in Milan. Like Dubai, galleries, members’ clubs and hotels are proliferating: the Italian government cut VAT on sales and imports of artworks from 22% to 5%, one of the lowest rates in Europe, prompting galleries such as Thaddaeus Ropac to expand in the city. In 2024, the upscale Via Monte Napoleone overtook New York’s Upper Fifth Avenue as the world’s most expensive shopping streets. It ceded the top spot to London’s Bond Street last April, though its pedestrianisation in May means it is primed to regain the top spot this year.
Brands are following the fresh wave of money, including new outposts for the private members’ clubs Casa Cipriani and Soho House.
The same shifts are unfolding in Rome too, Giorgolo adds. A Rosewood and Four Seasons hotel are due to open in 2026 and 2027 respectively.
“The expat community has brought a lot of changes to Milan as well as Rome,” she says. “Milan has always been an international city during big fairs like fashion week, but now it’s about the expats actually living here and reshaping the city year-round.”
But whether the city will be able to dethrone Dubai as the centre for the global elite remains to be seen.
“I’m positive Dubai will rebound from the current question of doubt around security,” Arton says. “It may no longer check the box for everyone, but there will still be certain groups that find Dubai very attractive because there are simply not many other places in the world that offer the same mix of opportunity and quality of life.”
