1 euro house in Italy: how does it work?

1 euro house in Italy: how does it work? what’s the procedure?

Let’s start by saying that Italy is rich in small, beautiful villages that, since the first and second post-war period are becoming increasingly depopulated.
To save them, here comes the brilliant and desperate idea: sell the houses at a symbolic price, but at a cost that the property must be inhabited and restored.

But… is the initiative working?

Yes, I can confirm that it works and that already many people, from all over the world, have taken advantage of it.

…but, here in Italy we say “it’s not all gold that glitters”, and for this reason I recommend reading this article to the end.

Let’s start by saying that, as a matter of fact,  it is a real purchase in presence of a notary, but, as with any real estate purchase, it is always advisable to carry out accurate surveys on the property you intend to buy in order to avoid unpleasant surprises, and to prevent the dream from turning into a nightmare.

The fact that a public entity or a notary is involved, does not protect you from unpleasant situations.

Don’t worry, in this article I will warn you on how to move. Click here to learn how to act before buying a property in Italy.

1 euro house in Italy: what’s the reason behind such a small price?

The reasons are many and I’ll list them below:

• Avoiding depopulation

As mentioned, since the first and second post-war period, we have gone through a long period in which the the phenomenon of emigration of Italians abroad has had a major impact on the social and economic situation of the country.

Even today the small villages, especially in the hinterland, are continuing to depopulate because young people seek fortune elsewhere.

Encouraging the entry of new investors will also allow these small towns to flourish again.

• Stimulating the construction sector

The financial recession of the end of 2000 deeply affected the prices in the real estate sector, of an average of  30% nationwide.

Since one of the obligations of the future buyer is precisely to restore the property within a short time (it depends on the municipality – some grant up to a maximum of 3 years, others within 1 year of purchase) – all this will benefit and  local construction companies.

Entire areas will thus be redeveloped, giving some “fresh air” to small villages and offering the appropriate departments an opportunity to redesign the building requirements in harmony with the landscape and the surrounding environment, imposing for example a spectrum of colors to paint the exterior walls of buildings, materials for windows, doors, balconies and terraces.

• Return to the origins

This initiative will facilitate and encourage the return of emigrants from abroad to Italy, especially for those people who want to spend their retirement in their country of origin and live a quieter and less stressful life(the Italian Style)

• Tourism growth

The media impact of this “1 euro house in Italy” thing,  is already bringing visibility in the world to small remote villages that otherwise hardly anyone would know.

Redeveloping entire areas in the historic centers will lead to a repopulation of the countryside, which will lead to the re-opening of local businesses that had closed the shutters over the past years.

This will create a vicious circle that will increase local tourism and retain young Italians, who will no longer be forced to emigrate to seek work elsewhere.

• Maintenance of old houses

The vicious circle Italy have experienced so far, however, is the one that has led to many historical centers completely
abandoned and made up of many decaying and dangerous buildings.

The average owners of these houses, who sometimes finds an inherited property but cannot maintain it, have to pay taxes and insurance costs to cover any damage to third parties, in case of any collapse of the roof covering.

Hence the brilliant idea of some municipalities:

– Carry out a census of abandoned or uninhabited houses in the historic center;

– Send the citizens who own them a communication saying:
“What do you say if we give away your houses, so that you don’t have to take care of ’em anymore?

At first the idea seemed crazy, but… the rest is history.

1 euro house in Italy: where can I get one??

At the moment, if you are interested in getting your “1 euro house in Italy” there is not much choice. Despite the initiative is taking off, there are about fifteen small towns and villages that have launched the initiative:

-Tuscany: Montieri, Fabbriche di Vergemoli;
-Sicily: Sambuca, Mussomeli, Gangi, Salemi, Regalbuto;
-Sardinia: Nulvi, Ollolai;
-Piedmont: Borgomezzavalle, Carrega Ligure;
-Lazio: Patrica;
-Marche: Cantiano;
-Abruzzo: Lecce nei Marsi;
-Campania: Zungoli

What’s the process to  get one??

The municipality receives a mandate, from the citizen who owns the uninhabited or abandoned house, to give the property to third parties.

This happens for 3 reasons:

1 – In Italy, if a public body (in this case the municipality) acquires a property through an expropriation or sale, by law, can not give away the property.

2 – In the event of the sale of a government asset, it would be necessary a specific technical expertise much more expensive than the commercial value of the property itself.

In addition, the sale should be made by public bidding.
All this would mean BLOCKING everything;

3 – The property, until it is sold, remains the property of the citizen, so the City Council will not have to bear the costs of maintaining the house;

What is the purchasing process?

• 1 – You have to formulate an official request to the local authority;
• 2 – You will have to develop a general project that shows how you intend to improve
  the property, and you have to present it together with the official application (read this article to learn the procedure to restore a property in Italy).
• 3 – An examination and selection of your application will follow – Don’t ask me with what criteria your project will be preferred over that of another suitor for that property;
• 4 – You will be officially informed of the acceptance of your application;
• 5 – The Municipality acts as guarantor between you and the citizen who owns the property (acts as an intermediary) and you go to the notary to sign the final deed.

You become legitimate owner as long as you:

• Plan a renovation project within a set time (depending on the municipality);
• Pay notary fees for registration and cadastral expenses.
• Start work a few months after all permits have been issued.

To guarantee the security of your purchase, the Municipality will ask you to take out a security policy for a pre-established amount (the amount depends on the Municipality – in some cases around Euro 5,000) for a specific duration,which will be returned to you when you have completed the works within the pre-established time frame.

Remember what I told you at the beginning of the article, “It’s not all gold that glitters“?
Not for all of the above mentioned municipalities (which have been a bit of a “track-opener” of this initiative) the things are going as expected.

In some cases, the bureaucratic aspect has blocked everything.

The lack of dialogue between the offices of Region, Province and Municipality itself, has not yet allowed to get this project off the ground.

That’s why it’s always useful to rely on someone “from the place” to gather information.

In addition, in many cases, the slogan used by the municipality – “come and buy a house for 1 Euro” – is only an expedient to attract potential buyers, hoping that they will buy real estate at prices of the market.

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