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CNN
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Ever dreamed of a house next door to a ski resort, vineyard or thermal springs?
The northern Italian region known as Trentino, or officially the Autonomous Province of Trento, will pay residents of Italy or Italians living abroad to renovate one of the many abandoned houses in the region where the Dolomites meet the Alps. The grant consists of €80,000 (about $87,000) towards the renovation and €20,000 (about $22,000) towards the cost of the purchase of the property.
But there’s a catch.
Anyone who signs up to the deal has to live there for 10 years or rent the property out for that length of time, or risk having to pay back the grant.
The 33 towns being considered for this project, which are expected to meet final approval in the coming weeks, are all on the brink of extinction with the number of empty and abandoned houses outnumbering those that are inhabited.
It’s the latest Italian gimmick to try to counter depopulation of villages and hamlets that fall under a 2024 national budget law that created a fund of €30 million ($32.5 million) to dole out to municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants that have been identified as suffering economically and socially because of depopulation.
That could mean a town with an entirely elderly population that has led to closures of schools or even a lack of amenities like grocery stores and gas stations.
But rather than offering up one-dollar houses like many regions in southern Italy and its islands, Trentino has allocated €10 million (about $11 million) over the next two years to incentivize both the purchase and renovation of existing homes, hoping to also inject economic power into the construction industry and supply chain.
“The goal is to revitalize local communities and promote territorial cohesion,” Maurizio Fugatti, president of Trento, said at an event laying out the project.
The restrictions include a cap of €200,000 (about $217,000) on renovations, or €120,000 (about $130,000) out of pocket by the new owner, making it impossible for someone to come in and build a massive villa that is not in keeping with the local village.
There is no cap on the purchase price, but the €20,000 grant is designed to cover between 35-40% of the total expense.
By mandating that the grant receiver lives there for 10 years or rents the home out to the one tenant long-term, the scheme will prohibit anyone from creating short-term rentals, which are especially popular near the ski hills and thermal baths.
Each individual is also limited to three real estate units, meaning no one can come in and buy up the whole village.
People under 45 years old who already live in the region are prohibited from applying for the program, which is meant to prohibit homeowners with children from applying to fix up homes that they are living in. The project is strictly meant for abandoned homes that are often eyesores or even dangerous to neighboring properties.
The region hopes to finalize the 33 towns where the homes will be available in April. Gorgeous mountain areas like Val di Non, where depopulation has exceeded 11%, are expected to make the list. In the equally picturesque region of Val di Sol, the villages of Rabbi and Vermiglio (where the 2024 World War I film “Vermiglio” was set), are all but certain to make the list as well.
“The initiative is intended for those municipalities that, according to a statistical analysis, have suffered a significant loss of population in the last decade,” said Nicola Teofilo, who writes for the real estate website Immobiliare News. “These are territories that, while maintaining a strong cultural and landscape identity, have seen a progressive decrease in residents. Many of these villages are located in mountain or valley contexts, where daily life can be more complex due to the distance from the main services.”
The initial list of eligible communities could be modified if not enough people apply to buy homes, or if there aren’t enough eligible homes on the market.