An aggressive plan to attract potential homeowners to Italy
Many small Italian towns are slowly emptying and as a solution, their mayors have been offering some of the historical homes at only 1 euro. It sounds like a joke, but it is definitely not. Due to the lack of job and opportunities, the youngest, professionals and even families have been often moving to the biggest cities, both in Italy and abroad.
The proposal has a twofold function: the revival of the local economy and the repopulation of these small towns. This initiative has been embraced by several towns located in different parts of the country: from Piedmont to Calabria, from to Sicily to Sardinia. There are several ways for buying a house, including the sale from an action base of 1 euro and the effective sale to 1 euro.
Along with the buying of the building, the council may provide some obligations related to the purchase, such as the duty to renovate the house.
The advantages of the proposal are many. Firstly, the opportunity to revive entire areas which are now abandoned giving a vibrant atmosphere to these towns. Also, the opportunity to free themselves from huge expenses due to the payment of taxes. An example is the city of Nulvi, in the province of Sassari, which has 2.000 inhabitants.
In Nulvi the councillor for the Urban Planning, Luigi Cuccureddu, says that the project was born three years ago. In order to make the old town centre attractive again, the council has started to look for some potential investors and buyers. So far today, there have been 1500 requests and three investments. The city of Nulvi has taken part in a regional call for proposals through which it has benefited from 1 million 500 thousand euros to convert 7 buildings in a scattered hotel. It has now 38 beds available.
Whoever would be interested in getting further details on how to buy a house in Sardinia or other regions, may have a look at the official website: https://casea1euro.it/case-a-1-euro .
After all, owning a second home in Italy would be the dream of anyone. Wouldn’t it?
By Juli Piscedda
Lifestyle & Travel Columnist
Learn more about Juli on our Featured Contributors page.