Much of the world has experienced an enormous and inexorable demographic shift in the last few decades: small towns and villages in the countryside, in the mountains, and the hills, of countries from Spain to Japan to the US and more, are emptying. Urbanisation is a trend that is nothing new; cities have always attracted people to move to them. However, since the latter part of the last century, and increasingly as we move through the twenty-first century, this trend is accelerating and draining small towns of their populations, as young people make the move, en masse, towards bigger cities. In Italy though, the small towns have fought back, and have found an incredibly successful weapon to combat this trend: 1 euro houses.
Since its first implementation, dozens of municipalities have turned to the idea of 1 euro houses, that is, selling properties in the municipality for symbolic prices, as a way to increase investment and to draw new people to live in the municipality, to help rebuilding the local community. And as more communities successfully attract investment and new residents via these schemes, still more continue to get in on the action. We have written about many of these municipalities in the last year, and will continue to over 2022 as more towns and villages see this as an opportunity to rejuvenate themselves, and bring their communities back from decline. However, with so many towns pushing schemes of this kind, there were also some that we didn't mention in 2021, so before we get further into this year, and see what 1 euro homes will be promoted over the coming months, let's quickly have a look at some of the towns we missed last year.
Santi Cosma e Damiano
Santi Cosma e Damiano is a small town of just under 7 thousand inhabitants in the province of Latina in Lazio, which last year joined the list of municipalities that have adopted a 1 euro houses scheme. The municipality is now the third in Lazio to implement such a scheme to facilitate local rejuvenation, after Maenza announced a similar move earlier last year, and Patricia, which was one of the earlier municipalities to adopt a 1 euro houses scheme in 2017.
As part of the Aurunci Mountains community, Santi Cosma e Damiano will make an idyllic addition to the growing 1 euro houses project. Very much built around the mountains, the town is spread across the slopes, with a medieval tower as well as stunning views out over the Gulf of Gaeta to be found in the upper part of the town, while the majority of the inhabitants live further down where the town hall and the Church of Santi Cosma e Damiano are both located. Set here in the mountains, close to the coast (Gaeta is only a short drive away), the town would be the perfect place for nature lovers and hikers to move to, as there's no end to the time you could spend exploring the slopes around the town.
The 1 euro houses scheme that Santi Cosma e Damiano's local government is implementing aims to sell a number of buildings in the town's historic centre. The buildings are largely abandoned, and the municipality seeks to make them safe through the scheme, by facilitating their purchase by individuals or companies who would be interested in refurbishing them. This also has the added benifit of attracting investment to the town, and will be a part of a broader move to recover and enhance the historic centre of the town.
Albidona
The small village of Albidona is located in the province of Cosenza, in the southern region of Calabria. This quiet village of only 1,500 inhabitants is exactly what you might think of when you picture an Italian village. Old historic buildings clustered around a central square, with a beautiful church. It's a quaint little village that you could walk around in maybe half an hour, all while enjoying the beautiful countryside surrounding it, for kilometres on all sides. It's also not far from the coast, and the Pollino National Park, so whether you're a fan of the beach or a nature lover, you'll be plenty happy.
As well as the 1 euro houses scheme, Albidona is also one of the villages in Calabria that will actually pay you to live there! If you are under 40, and are interested in taking over a small business in the village (or one of the others), then the municipality offers a monthly payment for two to three years. Throw in a 1 euro house and that sounds like a great deal! These 1 euro houses are aimed at attracting outside investment to the village as a way to boost its economic growth, for example by turning uninhabitted buildings into tourist accomodation. As the scheme aims to have effects in the short to medium term, in order to qualify for the scheme, you must begin renovation works on the property within a year of receiving your building permit, and must complete them within three years.
Pettineo
Leaving the mainland now, we turn to Sicily, the beating heart of the 1 euro houses project. Pettineo is a small village, located in the north of Sicily, with a population comparable to Albidona. The municipality put the 1 euro houses scheme into place in the town for several reasons. First and foremost, the abandoned or underused buildings in the town, particularly those in the historic centre, represented a possible danger, and by "selling" these properties to individuals with the intent to invest in and refurbish them, they can be effectively secured. Of course this investment would also be a boost to the local economy, and if used as tourist accomodation could represent a long-term source of revenue in the town given the popularity of Sicily as a tourist destination.
Of course, as with the other towns that have turned to selling buildings for mere symbolic prices, depopulation is also a factor in the implementation of the 1 euro houses scheme in Pettineo. Housing is a particular focus of the scheme, with improved and expanded housing seen as a way to combat the village's falling population. However the municipality is not being inflexible on this point, and recovered buildings can be put to any one of a number of uses, be it in housing, retail, or tourism. What is inflexible however is that like Albidona, there are time restrictions on renovation works. They must file their plans within three months of buying the property, and must complete the works within three years.
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