Sardinia pays you 15,000 euros bonus for moving to the island - These are the conditions

Created: 08/12/2022, 09:53

By: Franziska Kaindl

The Palau beach on the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia.

© Jan Wlodarczyk/Imago

Again and again, Italian communities try to counteract the rural exodus by luring new residents with grants.

Sardinia even wants to pay 15,000 euros.

Around 200,000 Italians leave their homeland every year to move to a larger city.

The reason is a lack of jobs and a poor infrastructure, as reported by Deutschlandfunk.

2,500 towns could be completely deserted in the next few years, some villages are already empty.

Regional governments are aware of the problem, which is why many are pouring millions of euros into "repopulation" programs - including the popular holiday island of Sardinia.

Because even if there are masses of tourists here in the summer months, the island suffers from the fact that young people flee to the cities or to the mainland.

On top of that, Sardinia has the lowest birth rate in Italy.

The regional government has therefore decided to provide 45 million euros to combat rural exodus.

15,000 euros bonus for residency in Sardinia

Anyone who has always wanted to live on Sardinia now has the chance: the Sardinian government pays a maximum of 15,000 euros per capita to people who want to buy or renovate a house on the island.

That means a total of 3,000 people can take advantage of the offer.

However, receiving the money is subject to certain conditions.

The subsidy is only available to people who have registered residence in a small municipality in Sardinia or who move to the island within 18 months of buying a house or apartment.

The selected property must be located in a village or municipality with no more than 3,000 inhabitants.

It is also stipulated that the subsidy may not exceed 50 percent of the total costs for the purchase or renovation of the accommodation.

Interested parties must therefore still take their own money into their hands.

The government’s offer should be in place by the end of 2024.

Italian communities and villages in the fight against rural exodus

Regional President Christian Solinas sees the measure as necessary in order to limit the rural exodus in Sardinia and to give young people in small communities a perspective.

A few years ago, the Italian village of Sambuca di Sicilia drew attention to itself when it sold houses for just one euro.

The reason for this was the rural exodus - young people are moving away and few new residents are coming.

The municipality of Cinquefrondi in the south of the country tried similar means.