To avoid the depopulation and decay of certain small towns, the Italian government developed an innovative project: selling ancient housing at a bargain price. 1€!
How does a 1 Euro House project work? Where to start, and how to find benefits and possibilities suitable for us?
According to the government law,1 Euro Houses are often owned privately. Owners frequently wish to get rid of them to avoid paying taxes and flounces. Therefore, we're usually talking about dilapidated or unsafe properties that need to be renovated. In some situations, we also discuss houses built in the 1980s and 1990s.
The property owners grant the municipality permission to sell the dwellings for the symbolic sum of one euro. The local administration promotes the project and ensures the consistency of the sale, which is always conducted between private persons. Buyers of 1 Euro Houses must guarantee the following commitments:
-Create a reorganization and revaluation plan (usually within 365 days of purchase).
-Plan a project for restructuring and revaluation (usually within 365 days of purchase).
- Assistance with notary fees for registration.
-Once you have obtained the necessary licenses, begin work within the time frame set by the municipality.
The municipality requests a surety policy ranging from €1,000.00 to €5,000.00 to ensure the buyer correctly executes the works. The coverage expires at the end of the finished works, which is usually within three years.
Those interested in the project intend to move their tenants into the new house and prefer to use local labor for the redevelopment interventions.
How is the project going so far?
Vittorio Sgarbi, a TV personality, proposed the one-euro housing concept more than a decade ago. The plan was offered by Sgarbi, the mayor of Salemi in southern Sicily, as a method to save the town's collapsing ancient quarter. Since then, the concept has spread to 34 municipalities across Italy.
While some of the houses sold through these programs are habitable upon purchase, the vast majority are nothing more than four medieval-era walls. Roofs have collapsed, and flooring has been ripped up. Many of them are stuffed with dead pigeons or other rodents.
None of this discouraged Andrade, a Brazilian-American who heard about the project in the press and couldn't believe it was real. She got a plane ticket to Italy to see it for herself and then drove to Mussomeli, a little Sicilian village. She first bought a one-euro house and returned the following summer to restore it. She has now purchased two more and has turned into an evangelist, coming every few months with friends, family, and even Facebook acquaintances to assist them with purchasing.
"Even after fees and refurbishment expenditures, it costs less than a timeshare in the United States," Andrade remarked. (The Washington Post, nov.15th 2021)
Currently, the project is attracting more and more people, especially foreigners, who see the project as a dream. Even though complications, mainly due to the pandemic emergency, are not absent, the project is going very well and has helped save many towns from decay and ruin.
Following Italy, France and UK have also joined the project.
