1 euro houses in sicily

Hello Taylorsl64,

Welcome on board !

Till members provide their insights, you are most welcome to have a look at this thread :

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=765378

All the best

Bhavna

Each comune has different rules, but usually there is a fixed time frame and a minimum amount to spend.  The house must be finished and be signed off getting all the relevant certificates.     Look on real estate sites to see how much finished houses are being sold for, and then you can work out if its going to be worth the hassle, as theres no point spending alot on a house which you can then only sell for a loss.

I agree with Modicasa - every commune and region has their own rules.

When we were looking at a low priced property (not a 1 Euro one) we soon discovered that there was going to be a huge amount of work.

Because the house was uninhabitable, any renovations needed to meet the latest regulations - that meant that there was a huge amount of external works - changing window positions, major changes to the roof etc.

On top of that as we are in a small village the expectation is that the work is done by locals - which means you could wait a long time - and if you bring outsiders in to do the work you are likely to upset any chance of integrating into the village.

Oh - and of course you are not allowed to live in it until it gets a certificate saying its habitable so you will be up for rent as well.

So in the end we abandoned that project and bought a habitable house in the same village. Cost was E215.000, but its liveable - and comes with 1.5 acres situated right in the centre of the village. Less stress and we can do the alterations as time (and money) allows!

@taylorsl64

I can imagine that, with the release of the Alan Carr / Amanda Holden series, there will be many people thinking of this opportunity.

We have not bought a €1 house, but we did build a house in Italy. We have been delighted with it and have now had it 10 years; however I would urge you to consider these questions;

Will you be prepared to learn Italian and integrate into the community ( I mean learn to speak it, not just ask for an ice-cream/beer at the bar)

Will you have the time/inclination to visit the project regularly to ensure it is on-track and keep up payments to the builders?

(our project took one year and we visited monthly)

The costs of owning a second home in Italy can be high. There is Council Tax and Refuse Collection tax to pay. The Utilities costs (water and electricity) have a much higher cost to second-home-owners than to residents. Gas may be mains or it may be LPG to a tank in your garden. House insurance is astronomic; We pay approx £600 p.a. vs around £250 p.a. in UK for a bigger & much more valuable house. It's expensive because you'll require earthquake cover.

How are you going to find a builder you trust, who will manage the project for you? We happened to have an exceptionally good experience. I would say it was better than any building project we had in the UK.... though the plumbing was bad and we had to do quite a lot of remedial work.

Who is going to look after the house when you're not there? What happens if the house freezes and a pipe breaks? (again, a reason to learn Italian, as it won't be much use if your neighbours call you and they can't understand you. I doubt whether anyone in those rural locations speaks English.... and certainly not the builders/tradesmen.

I'm sure this could be a the project of a lifetime, but do go into it with your eyes wide open.

Each region has its own conditions for participation in the program house for 1 euro. I have studied this topic and I must say that the amount of the deposit that must be given to the municipality has increased to 4-5000 euros on average. But the deadlines for submitting a home renovation plan and starting construction have also changed. In houses for 1 euro in Sicily, I would pay attention to the regions of Penne, Cattolica Eraclea and Floridia. They are all close to the sea. Also an interesting option could be Salemi houses for 1 euro. BBC made a great series about it.