- Tuscany officials have set up a $3 million fund to encourage people to move to the countryside.
- The fund will pay grants of up to $32,000 to people who move to Tuscany and renovate their homes there.
- The grant will pay 50% of the renovation costs, and applicants must occupy the property as their primary residence.
Imagine living in a romantic Italian region known for its dry red wines, medieval architecture and olive groves, waking up every morning to views of the Tuscan countryside.
Now imagine getting paid to do that.
Tuscany regional authorities in June launched a new “Mountain Living” program, which created a 2.8 million euro ($3 million) fund to encourage people to move to the countryside.
The fund, part of an effort to stabilise the country’s declining population, will pay grants of between 10,000 and 30,000 euros (around $10,720-$32,161) to people who move to Tuscany and renovate their homes.
“The objective of the intervention is to promote and encourage the repopulation and socio-economic revitalization of mountain areas, as opposed to their marginalization,” the program’s website states.
The grant will cover 50 percent of the renovation costs for homes in one of 76 Tuscany towns with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, including San Casciano dei Bagni, known for its thermal springs, Caprese Michelangelo, birthplace of the Renaissance artist of the same name, and Capraia Isola.
The program is open to Italians, EU residents and non-EU citizens, as long as they have established long-term residence for at least 10 years. Eligible applicants must commit to making the property in Tuscany their main residence.
Applications for the program close on July 27th.
A Tuscany spokesperson did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
Italy has tried various schemes for years to attract new residents to its countryside. The country, which has the lowest percentage of children under 15 in Europe, is facing a serious demographic crisis, with some 2,500 towns at risk of collapse and unlikely to survive for more than 25 years, according to a 2016 study by the Italian Environment Ministry.
CNN reported last year that there are more than 6,000 ghost villages across the country, abandoned due to relocation or natural disasters.
In response, new residents in Molise were given $27,500 in aid to relocate to an abandoned town in the mountains on the country’s east coast in 2018. The following year, authorities in the city of Ollolai put 200 homes up for sale for 1 euro ($1.25) each, hoping to avoid the same fate.
Sicily has similarly made headlines with $1 homes for sale, attracting hordes of expats who flock to the island to snap up the abandoned properties despite them being in dire need of repair.
Business Insider previously reported that there was a deadline in Sicily for the repairs to be completed, and authorities required the buyer to work with specific contractors to complete the work, which could cost more than $30,000 to renovate, but some buyers thought the cost was worth it.
