While many of us would go and live in a beautiful Italian village for free, you could now earn almost $50,000 to move to the country.
Santo Stefano di Sessanio, a medieval village in southern Italy, is looking to encourage people to move there in a bid to keep the village alive.
As it stands, there hillside town is home to just 115 residents; less than 20 of which under the age of 13.
As per CNN Travel, Santo Stefano di Sessanio’s council is willing to pay someone up to €8,000 ($9,318) per year for three years to move there, as well as offering an additional on-off payment of €20,000 ($23,297) to start your own business.
If that wasn’t enough to get you packing your bags, the council will also provided a home for you to live in for a ‘symbolic’ rent. Basically, they’re not sure how much they’ll charge yet, but I’d guess – with this new scheme in mind – they won’t be asking for too much.
There is a catch, however; the town is only offering this new experience to people aged between 18 and 40. As well as this, you already have to be an Italian or EU citizen or have the ability to legally become one.
They also ask that people stay for up to five years as a way of preventing people from going for a year, taking the money, and leaving again.
Speaking about the innovative idea, Mayor Fabio Santavicca said to CNN Travel, ‘We’re not selling anything to anyone – this isn’t a business move. We just want to enable the village to continue to live.’
You don’t have to start your own business, either – but you will have to get a job the council deems as ‘key’. These include cleaners and maintenance workers, guides and staff for the information office.
Apparently since the scheme has been advertised, around 1,500 people have applied for it. However, the council wants to keep the numbers to around 10 people, or five couples, which will leave many applicants disappointed
This isn’t because they don’t want people to move there though, the council wants the restoration of the village’s population to be a gradual process.
Santavicca said, ‘We want to ramp numbers up gradually, and we have to work with the housing that belongs to the authorities’.
If you think you could fit the bill, you can apply for the scheme here. Applications close November 15.
