Brit reveals what it's really like to buy a 85p house in Italy – and the amazing secret he found inside

The Irish Sun

16-06-2025

A JEWELLERY dealer swapped the UK for Italy and bought a house for just 85p - and the property came with a surprise.
George Laing, 32, was handed the keys to the abandoned four-bed house in the
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George found an 18-carat gold chain, which was valued at £851 at the home in Mussomeli
Credit: George Laing
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He also unearthed a 19th-century 14-carat emerald stone ring
Credit: George Laing
It was part of Italy's popular €1 homes scheme, set up to encourage the renovations of crumbling, yet beautiful, properties.
When he moved in he realised very quickly that he had his work cut out.
The electrics, plumbing, bathrooms, structural repairs and roof update all needed doing.
He told The i Paper: "It wasn't liveable at all when I bought it.'
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However, after a few years of hard graft, George is now able to live in his Italian dream house while he works on the renovations.
He has almost finished the whole top floor of the property.
In an attempt to save the pennies, he is doing up the entire house on his own.
He has estimated his final costs to be between €5,000 and €10,000.
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"Someone else renovating the exact same property could have easily spent €40,000 or more,' he said.
The house spreads over 1,291 square feet over three floors.
Watch the video to see inside the family-of-seven's caravan home
It has two bathrooms and a small balcony with views over the town.
He stumbled across some hidden treasure tucked away in various nooks of the house.
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A purse filled with gold jewellery was stashed in a bedside table drawer.
Then he came across a padlocked chest in the kitchen, which had a biscuit tin inside.
However, it wasn't filled with biscotti - it carried eight ring boxes.
The most valuable pieces were an 18-carat gold chain, which was valued at £851 and a 19th-century 14-carat emerald stone ring with pearls valued at £595.
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Despite keeping a few pieces aside for himself, he auctioned around £2,127 of the stash.
As well as jewellery, there were plenty of antiques, including a vintage 1950s hen clock, a collection of postcards, religious statues, crystal vases and an antique gilded mirror.
Italian law states that as the new owner of the house, George is the rightful owner of the antiques.
The house has been abandoned for decades and the heirs of the property had no interest in personal belongings left in the house.
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So under Italian local law, the contents of the house were included with the purchase.
George decided to move to Italy after becoming fed up with the soaring cost of living in the UK.
He said: 'I was spending well over £1,300 a month for my small one-bedroom flat.
"The private water and electricity companies have increased their rates by 400 per cent over the last five years.
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"The UK taxes me 40 per cent on my wages. A cup of coffee is £5.
'Once you add this all together I was just about surviving in London even though I was working full time and doing other projects on the side to make money."
He said that he decided he needed to make a change and wanted to "thrive, not survive".