Italy’s 1 Euro House Dream: The renovation reality | Foreign Correspondent

from its sun-kissed shores to its craggy peaks Sicily is a

dream

for thousands of years people have been drawn to this very cool Mediterranean corridor parade, it's hard to imagine here in the heart of the capital but in

reality

There are parts of Sicily that are now desperate to attract people Italy has the oldest population in Europe in the last decade it has fallen by more than a million people and in the next decade they expect the same again The iconic hilltop towns in Sicily are feeling the pressure, but the locals have a plan that they hope is irresistible to sell abandoned

house

s for just one oh that's beautiful, it's not just about renovating

house

s, it's a great social experiment to try to breathe new life into these old towns, People come from all over the world to get these cheap houses, but what is life?

For example, after signing on the dotted line,

foreign

ers make a home here and what locals think of their new neighbors. A renaissance is happening, but is it enough to rescue these towns? I'm in Muselli and I feel like I've gone back in time. This procession is as old as the streets. People are marking All Saints' Day with a march to the cemetery located on a hill in the middle of the Sicilian interior. This place has a timeless charm, but some I fear the city may be alone Slow march to the Tomb through Italy deaths in distant places births and people are moving abroad to find work there used to be more than 15,000 people living here in melli now there are only 10,000 and many empty houses down here it is very clear that tradition and family are deeply rooted in the Muslim city, there are generations of people buried here and their families come today to pay their respects, the concern for the city is make sure there are more generations.

In the future, to continue these traditions, this is the vice mayor of Musi, Totty Negrelli, the father of two children, 37 years old, was born and raised here. He believes the 1st House program is the key to solving the city's problem. This is one of our 1. houses and this is also on the market so I could buy this one for one, yes one is very cheap, what's the problem? The problem is that you are forced to renovate the house up to this point if you don't start renovating the work. In three years you return the house, no, but you have to pay a fine of 5,000 to the municipality of Mus.

All this, yes, so you just have to start working on time, yes, well, we'll take a look, yes, let's go to the cities. All over Italy this has been going on for years and it has made international headlines. Most M started their program 6 years ago to try to revitalize the city. You want to come first, so fixing the door could be the first step. Well this is the first floor it looks like this one has a little water damage up here yeah this house needs some work obviously this place needs a new roof among other things Totty thinks the

renovation

s would cost you around € 30 000, that is, 30 000 on average, what most people would spend or varies between houses start from 10,000 up to 100,000 pants 200,000 depends on the dimensions of the house many of the owners of these old houses They have died and the relatives who inherit them do not want them in Italy if you have In more than one house you have to pay a lot of taxes because they consider you rich and people here in Musali prefer to leave the house for free and not pay taxes.

In Totty's office, his inbox is full of queries, so many that they collapsed. server, more than 300,000 people from around the world have sent emails, including many from Australia. We have 74,000 people from Australia who visited our website. Normally you can only come to Italy for 3 months at a time, if you want to stay longer you will have to do so. To address the Italian bureaucracy, many people have an Obain visa and we have a lawyer who provides these services. The scheme had to stop during Co, but is ramping up now as they have sold 400 homes so far and Totty hopes to sell 100 more. this year not all of them cost € you can spend a little more about 15,000 and get something in better condition for us it is important to repopulate our town with people from all over the world I think that driving through these alleys would cost a bit Getting used to the fact that if you bought one home here, these historic neighborhoods are beautiful but they're not exactly convenient.

Part of the problem here in Muselli and other towns is that the locals who are here have moved out of these older parts of town, favoring some of the more modern areas where houses are a little easier while many locals prefer these newer ones. apartments on the outskirts of the city. I'm about to meet someone who has fallen in love with the cobblestone streets in the heart of Melly. Ah Hello, nice to meet you, thanks for inviting me you're welcome so this is the only house this is this what condition was it in when you bought it full collaborations that's the starting point quite low Ria Daniels was among the first buyers of houses in

euro

s At Muselli, who bought three and has been managing the

renovation

s from his home in California, how have you been fixing the R?

I brought five suitcases of tools, I bought a generator all from California, um, I took my brother-in-law from Brazil, I hired local people and I thought we're doing this and that's the roof, yeah, and that's the sunlight coming in, oh Yes, okay, that's all clear. Well this is my new kitchen, it's one of those traditional Italian kitchens, we have the bathroom and I have a shower tower that he gave me. Me, five different types of water, including a waterfall, what more could you ask for? Hey, upstairs, it's still a construction site. Ria plans to retire here.

I feel that the house is a living being. I have a feeling for the house. Everything that is done here is done on purpose. reviving the house is incredible. I love the house. Is the view what she told you about the house? Definitely the feeling of the street itself is almost as if we stopped and in an instant we returned to history and the past. It's just beautiful, beautiful here and what has it been like managing this big project remotely? The people are reliable and capable of getting the job done. You just need to manage your expectations.

You know, I don't have expectations from California after all. an island, they are in an island era and this is Sicily colodro Lelo is a local builder who works on Ruby's house. He's been on the job for almost a year, but he met her for the first time this week. Foreigners love these old houses, but sometimes their expectations have to be managed the one

euro

plan has created a boom for the local construction industry today elbow takes ruia on a shopping expedition This Ti store has belonged to the same family for three generations some of the locals are still skeptical about the scale of the project The problem is really hard to ignore, although parts of the city have been given new life there are still other areas like this where hundreds of houses are still empty and abandoned, but many of the newcomers are trying to help the city and do so.

More than just funding a renovation, one of the best-known

foreign

ers is Danny McCubbin, the Australian xat worked in London on celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's community food projects. I always imagined myself in Italy. I came to muselli. I first heard about it in May 2019. Houses in Euros I ended up buying a house that many other foreigners overlooked and that I always imagined would be a community kitchen or a place that has social value for the city. Danny received reimbursement for his first house when it was damaged. because of the water that came in from an abandoned house next door, but he did not leave and installed his community kitchen in the main Piaza, so the good kitchen is a community space in the heart of the city here in muselli, where every week we rescue food. from supermarkets and then we use that food forever, so we deliver fresh food packages to families and today, as Sunday, we have a Sunday lunch and that lunch is just for anyone.

There are about 20 food packages that will be delivered first to local families who are struggling. I really think about each person, the food that I am putting in that package for them. I always give them a little joy. The kitchen is staffed by volunteers, including local Nona Kodra Lenzel. She teaches me how to cook Ian's food. She really is. the heart and soul of good cooking I think this is the woman who speaks K viqua kadra is uh like I said my right and the person in the kitchen she is incredible the kitchen would not exist without seeing anything this morning kodra is going out to deliver meals around town EO EO returns to good cooking there is a growing army of hungry mouths to feed because today we have a lot of children from time to time we like healthy chicken nuggets like a brat, they are not just local If you need a meal or company , fine dining has also become a social hub for the growing community of single-home buyers.

Sunday lunch is incredibly important to Italians, thank you, and it's become these times when you meet M and Aussie to sit down. with my friend Vera from Ukraine and then there may be someone from Argentina or someone from the United States who came to stay in a house and this cross-pollination occurs when breaking bread on a Sunday, there have been people coming and going all morning, people local, newcomers. you know there's a real sense of community here, it's a classic italian sunday lunch, but with a little twist, the one euro house program has been fantastic for muselli, it's been a catalyst, it really is almost like the hook that draws the people. a muselli I think now, although this city has more to offer than just a house, Chee Danny is not the only one who came looking for a house and found a city in need.

I am meeting another foreigner who, according to some people, has achieved a miracle fighting against Italy. Notorious bureaucracy to help save local hospital Erica Moscatello has been in town for 2 years and has mastered the warm Sicilian welcome Eric is an Argentinian with Italian roots, he opted to pay a little more for his house but the place still needed work But after arriving, he was horrified to discover that the hospital was at risk of closing due to staff shortages. He came up with a plan to bring in doctors from Argentina, where more than half the population claims Italian heritage, but he had to confront the system first.

Now nine Argentine doctors working in Melli including fighting patients from Veron when we visited them and they are crying because they were waiting for us they were waiting for the people who save the hospital how did it feel to receive that kind of response from the patients? I feel great because I believe I'm helping people, that's why I was created, so I really love it. Erica has now helped place dozens of doctors in hospitals across Italy from her balcony overlooking the square. She believes Musi's renaissance is just beginning. Muselli is not the only one. town in this part of Sicily that sells cheap houses.

I'm driving to the neighboring town of camarata. It is also selling houses, but interestingly it is not the local council that is running the scheme, it is actually a group of young professionals who have moved abroad. job opportunities, but have decided to return to try to revive their city. It has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Europe. Hundreds of thousands of young Italians have packed their bags and moved abroad in search of work, so I'm looking forward to meeting this group. that goes against the trend hello Martina, nice to meet you Martina Jello and her fiancé John Luca are leading the project for Camara's first house, they grew up here but, like many young people, after high school they moved abroad, we had a childhood really nice and free here, uh at some point you have to leave the city if you want to go to university or if you want to have different experiences, but then I realized that I like My Town more to have this contact with the people here , something I couldn't have in a huge city Martina is an architect and got a job in a local company John Luca is a graphic designer since I work as a freelancer I can do things I can work from wherever I want so it was his parents' generation that he abandoned the narrow and narrow chamber The young people of the old town who were falling apart decided to return to the old town, they decided to renovate their grandparents' house and live there.

This baffles some of the locals. La coule formed a non-profit organization called Street with other local youth and took over the administration of the chamber. Previously, the city council had been advertising the one euro houses. Yes, they actually started the project in 2014, but because there was no good office dealing with the project, they couldn't manage it properly, so how was it? when you first took it from the council, yeah, it's a funny story, actually, because when we took the project from the municipality, they gave us what they had so far and they had thousands of emails, but for some reason they decided to print all the emailsemails and give us tons of papers with emails and I filled my own cars with thousands of emails from people who wanted to buy it, so just in the trunk full of paper, yes, yes, yes, they are interested in finding buyers who want .

To leave aside Roots, basically people who want to stay here and be part of the community, if they can stay longer than two weeks just for their vacation home it will be good, two newcomers here are already making inroads in this budding community Christina and Stefan. I recently bought this one year old house across the street two groups and did you look at a few places before deciding on this one? Yes, we looked at some, but the city here is the best. What were the people and city people there too? that what sold you in camarata the people the local people yes yes sure you can be honest was the food there is no me things the people the food uh the city the views many things yes and just the spirit Christina and Stefan are originally from Bulgaria, more Recently, they have been living in the United Kingdom.

They were in Sicily on vacation with their children when they decided to stay. This is one of the reasons for, yes, it's a very good reason, what an incredible view. MH, the wife in the UK, is very stressful. it's all about money and we were there for seven years we didn't make any friends and here for 2 months we have over 10 new friends the family is renting while they renovate today they are heading to the park for a play date. with some local friends and our son, who is 8 years old and is in a school here, and a daughter who is 4 years old and is in kindergarten and I think they like it here, that the wife can go out whenever they want, no it matters.

If I have work and I can't go with them, they just ah chiao M, I go out and tell them, okay, chiao Christina met Gloria through 2nd Street and had children of a similar age sealing the friendship that they confuse in a mix of languages. It's like being part of this movement to revitalize the old town. Oh, I am very proud and I already have some plans on what we can do more for the city and I am very happy to be able to help in this way. I think it's a lot. People when they go on vacation day

dream

about moving there, but you really did it, so how does the dream compare to

reality

for us?

The dream is reality and reality is the dream. These houses were considered worthless, but it seems their value cannot. can be measured so easily I found much more than renovations here people are building a community a lifestyle a shared hope for the future the streets in the old neighborhoods are still quite quiet but from time to time life peaks maybe a sign of things to come