Italy offers schemes to move there

Small villages on the list

Photo by Giuseppe Mondì on Unsplash

A handful of regions and towns across Italy are trying to fight depopulation by offering cash to people willing to move there. You’ll see this in spots like Trentino up in the Alps, the Tuscan village of Radicondoli, Calabria in the south, and Candela down in Apulia.

The deal’s usually straightforward, but not exactly easy: you need to buy and fix up an old or abandoned house, and you have to live there full-time — often for a decade. Here’s how some of the main schemes work:

Trentino in northern Italy is offering a one-time grant of up to €100,000 (€80,000 for fixing up a house and €20,000 to buy it). You need to already be an Italian resident or an Italian living abroad, and you’re expected to stay put for at least ten years.

Radicondoli in Tuscany puts up to €20,000 on the table for home buyers, plus another €6,000 to help cover heating and utilities. Again, you have to commit to living there for a solid ten years, whether you own or rent.

In Calabria, if you’re under 40, you could get up to €26,000, but you need to either launch a new business or get settled within 90 days after approval.

Candela in Apulia is a bit smaller in scale: singles can get €800 and families of four can receive up to €2,000. The catch is you must actually move there, rent or buy a place, and register as your main home.

All these programs are designed for areas with dwindling populations, so expect to deal with long visa processes (if you’re not already eligible), paperwork, and serious home renovations.

People chatting online, especially on Reddit, often say these initiatives come with plenty of hurdles — remote locations, outdated infrastructure, strict building permits.

So, if you’re tempted, just know it’s not a simple move-in-and-collect-cash deal. It takes real commitment — and probably a good dose of patience.

Many people have been burnt by the renovation costs and the time lines so make sure to have good contacts and plans.