Latest news with #€1homes
Daily Mail
07-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
The stunning French village selling homes for one euro - and the clever reason behind the cheap deal
In the past few years, several small towns in Italy have made headlines for offering vacant homes for €1 in an effort to boost dwindling populations and breathe new life into abandoned villages. Now, the well-received initiative appears to be catching on elsewhere in Europe - with a quiet French town recently joining the €1 homes club. Ambert, located in the southeast of France, has become the latest community to adopt the tactic, in the hopes of stopping its population of 6,500 from shrinking any further. The move is part of a wider five-year plan to attract new residents and rejuvenate local life. In one area of the town, property vacancy rates have reached up to 60 per cent, prompting authorities to put two empty homes on the market for just one euro each - the equivalent to 85p. So far, the broader project seems to be showing signs of success, as a new class was added to Ambert's school two years ago due to growing enrolment. In addition, the town's historic chamber of commerce and industry building is currently undergoing renovations. It's expected to reopen in 2026 as a public space - bringing with it new jobs for local residents. This means selling the €1 homes shouldn't be too difficult - but, like many similar schemes, such as those seen in Italy, the offer comes with its fair share of terms and conditions. While the initial cost is an indisputable bargain, buyers are expected to invest significantly in renovations and meet strict requirements if they want the keys. To begin with, second-home buyers are prohibited from buying into the scheme. According to The Local, those who purchase a €1 house in Ambert must commit to living in the property full-time for at least three years once it's been made habitable. If they fail to do so, they risk financial penalties, including the repayment of any government grants given for refurbishment works. And there's a good reason for that funding: the houses need a lot of work. From the roof to the wiring, and everything in between, the two homes on offer require extensive renovations. Potential buyers may even be asked to provide a written plan outlining the extent of the work and how long it will take to complete. If you're already picturing your new life in rural France and don't mind taking on a challenging DIY project, one of these homes might be for you - although it's worth considering brushing up on your French language skills before making the move. It comes after a British man who bought a house in Italy for the bargain price of just €1/85p has revealed he now has hundreds of people desperate to rent it out. George Laing, 32, bought the derelict three-storey property in Mussomeli, a town in Sicily, in December 2022. The Brit purchased the bargain home under a renovation scheme set up by the council. Once George had paid for admin fees, agency costs and energy certificates, the purchase price came to €5,000/£4,300.
The Sun
16-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Brit reveals what it's really like to buy a 85p house in Italy – and the amazing secret he found inside
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 Sicilian town of Mussomeli in 2022. 2 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.' 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. "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. 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. 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. 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. "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".
