Map of properties on sale for a euro in Italy
Map of properties on sale for a euro in Italy

From the south to the north of the Italian peninsula, houses that would otherwise be abandoned or destroyed are being sold by private individuals or by municipalities for the symbolic price of one euro. The objective is for the new owners to begin rehabilitation and recovery work to give new life to the buildings and the places where they are located. idealista/news presents you with a map of the Italian villages where you can buy them.

Houses for 1 euro in Sicily

Gangi, in the province of Palermo, was voted the most beautiful town in Italy in 2014. However, the historic centre of this charming Sicilian village has, with the passage of time, experienced a kind of abandonment and many of its houses have ended up in ruins. In order to redevelop and enhance the heart of this city, in 2015, the union decided to cede the old buildings for free for tourism or housing purposes. There was just one condition: they had to be restored within three years. Similar initiatives have also been taken up in Regalbuto (Enna) and Salemi (Trapani).

The particular story of the municipality of Salemi is, however, peculiar. It was then Mayor Vittorio Sgarbi who launched an initiative in 2008 to sell the ruined properties to private individuals to combat the degradation of the historic old town, hit by an earthquake in 1968. Despite numerous expressions of interest in purchasing them, some of the buildings were seized because they were unsafe, while the municipality became a police station owing to Mafia infiltration.  In 2016, the former mayor and his administrators were acquitted of all charges of wrongdoing in the sale of these properties.

Houses for 1 euro in Tuscany

In Montieri, in the province of Grosseto, the mayor decided to save his municipality by selling some abandoned and ruined properties for 1 euro. Only one condition had to be met: the buyer had to renovate them within three years, otherwise they had to be returned. In Fabbriche di Vergemoli, a little town in the province of Lucca with a population of just 800 that was born from the merging of the villages of Fabbriche di Vallico and Vergemoli, the sale of houses for a euro aims to repopulate the small municipality.

Houses for 1 euro in Patrica

The latest place to sell properties for one euro was the small village of Patrica, in the province of Frosinone. The mayor decided to "sell" the abandoned buildings with the aim of improving the historic centre of the village, preventing depopulation and making the houses safe. Here too, the condition is that the purchasers undertake to renovate the old buildings.

Houses for 1 euro: the list of municipalities

Here is the complete list of Italian municipalities where you can buy a house for one euro: