You Can Buy A House In The Italian Town Of Sambuca For 90p

Many Millennials and members of Generation Z are now resigned to the idea that they may never own a house of their own.

But there may be hope yet, as the mayor of a town in Italy is offering people the chance to buy a home for less than £1.

The small town of Sambuca - once voted the most beautiful town in the country - is located on the picturesque island of Sicily, and is home to several properties that are on the market for just €1 (around 90p).

As well as probably having to relocate to the Mediterranean - not the worst idea in the world - the new owners must also pledge to refurbish the homes over the following three years.

The offer is part of the town's 'Case1Euro' [Homes1Euro] scheme to try and bring more people to the area to increase the local population.

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So what would you have to do?

Firstly, the catch (there's always a catch!) - though the advert says 90p, anyone wanting to get in on the deal will have to put down a €5,000 deposit (£4,350) to secure a building.

Admittedly, the properties have seen better days and new owners will be obliged to spend at least €15,000 (£13,050) on renovating them, to bring them up to scratch, but when you're paying less than a quid for a house you can't really argue.

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Also any work on the homes must be finished within three years of purchasing it, after which the owner will get their deposit back.

Unsurprisingly, since the announcement Mayor Leo Ciaccio's office has been inundated with tens of thousands of requests, with potential buyers falling over themselves to snap up one of the cheap homes.

This isn't the first time an ailing Italian town has tried to entice more people to move over and help breathe new life into the area.

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Earlier this month Airbnb announced it was offering a handful of people the opportunity to go and live in Italy for three months. And yes, the company will pay you for it.

Four lucky people will be sent to the picturesque countryside to stay in the quaint hillside village of Grottole, and take up language and cooking classes.

According to the website, it's hoped that it will help breath life into the local community and bring tourists back to the village - which, with 600 empty homes and just 300 inhabitants, is 'at risk of disappearing' and needs help. What are you waiting for?

Topics: World News, travel

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

@SmithersDom