What's the matter with one euro and one suite? Urbanization has caused a serious outflow of population and vacant houses in some villages in Italy. The local municipal government hopes to attract buyers and residents by buying for 1 euro.
Imagine chatting with neighbors in the narrow streets of the old city of Italy, drinking Campari orange juice in the market, and overlooking the hills of Sicily from the living room - what a yearning life, and to achieve such a life, you only need 1 euro to buy a suite.
Recently, Mussomeli, a small town in the heart of Sicily, Italy, has put about 100 houses on its real estate trading website, and there may be another 400 houses coming online in the future.
What kind of city is mussomelli?
According to officials, mussomelli is a small town of 11000 people in the heart of Sicily, in the inner hills east of the platani river.
In the continental climate of Mussomeli, the winter is cold and dry, the summer is warm and windy, the rain is concentrated in January, February, March, April, October and December, and almost no rain in summer. The temperature is about 3-11 & deg; C in winter and 15-32 ℃ (sometimes to 35 ℃) in summer.
Musomelli is one of the safest cities in Italy because of its advanced video surveillance system and numerous police officers, officials said.
In addition, the Agrigento sea is only 40 minutes away from the town. In terms of transportation, mussomelli is 172.6 km away from Catania airport and 96.8 km away from Palermo airport.
Why did mussomelli sell the house for one euro?
Musomelli's project to sell the house is called 'case1euro'. On April 4, 2009, at the proposal of Tosti nigrelli, a member of the musomelli City Council, the musomelli City Council voted to pass the 'Ordinance to facilitate the transfer of property within the city limits'. By April 2019, the regulation is in full operation and has become an important trading measure with people from all over the world.
So why do the residents of mussomelli sell their houses at the price of 1 euro? This is mainly because of the property tax and the vacancy caused by the relocation of residents.
Since only the first house of Italian citizens is exempt from property tax, the citizens who own many houses have to pay high taxes to the Italian government, which makes some Italian citizens who own many houses prefer to sell their houses at the price of 1 euro rather than pay extra taxes.
On the other hand, the migration of musomeli residents reduced the population of the old city. Musomelli once set off a construction boom in the 1970s. Many local residents moved to musomelli's new town.
Another reason is that the houses in the old city once belonged to their parents and grandparents. After their parents and grandparents died, although the residents living in the new city or going to big cities inherited the houses, they did not choose to return to the old city. This left houses vacant in the old city and some citizens wanted to sell their houses in mussomelli.
One euro purchase is just a gimmick
But the 1 euro purchase cost of these houses is just a symbolic gimmick.
At present, the residential area of the 100 units sold is between 45 and 140 square meters. These houses are in urgent need of repair. After the purchase, the new owner needs to deposit 5000 Euro deposit. In addition, the buyer must redecorate the house within three years, otherwise the 5000 Euro deposit will be handed over to the municipal government.
The community 'only' requires buyers to update the appearance of their houses. The price per square meter is about 100 euro, which means that the cost of decoration is about 4500 euro to 14000 euro. On the other hand, if you have to renovate the whole house, the cost will be higher - about 700 euros per square meter.
In addition, buyers have a small property, waste management fees to pay, about 300 euros a year.
Hundreds of houses have been sold, and local tourism has become the biggest winner
According to the reporter of 21st century business report, the municipal government of mussomelli has received 60000 applications. The local government said that thousands of people came to visit musomeli, the local tourism industry has become very active, and many people who are interested in buying houses will stay in musomeli for a few days.
In addition, the local government has set up a special office to receive tourists in line and show them around the free property. At present, 100 houses have been sold, two of which are purchased by non Italians.
Other Italian cities have sold their homes at low prices before
In addition to mussomelli, according to the reporter of the 21st century economic report, there are about 15 cities and towns in Italy that have implemented the policy of buying houses for 1 euro. These cities hope to slow down the outflow of population through this policy.
Aga, an Italian analyst, has analyzed the practice of selling homes for 1 euro in recent years and reminded buyers to make sure they meet a range of requirements. For example, these sellers have to pay all notarization and administrative fees, and promise to submit a housing renovation project within one year of purchase.
Generally speaking, the cost of renovation is 20000 to 25000 euros. In addition, new owners are required to carry out renovation works within two months after receiving all permits. Another requirement imposed by the municipality is to pay a guarantee of 5000 euros, which will be returned when the renovation is completed three years later.
Of the 15 places mentioned above, five are in Sicily and two in Sardinia, piedmont and Tuscany. In addition, the list also includes towns in the areas of MARKAY, Campania, Abruzzo and Lazio.
In fact, with the development of urbanization, the outflow of population has become a "heartache" for some Italian cities. The small town of candela in Italy's Priya region also launched a policy in 2017, offering prices ranging from 800 to 2000 euros to residents willing to settle down in candela.
Nicola gatta, mayor of candela, told CNN travel that his goal is to increase the number of residents to 8000.
Candela was once known as "little Naples" in the 1990s, and the streets were full of tourists, businessmen and hawkers. But there are only 2700 people living in candela today.
But to get the money, candidates have to meet several conditions - for example, they have to declare that they will live in candela, have a house in candela, and have a job with an annual salary of at least 7500 euros.