A euro for a house, if you do the work
Naro, a hill town in Sicily’s Agrigento province, is the newest name on Italy’s long list of villages selling homes for €1. The council signed off on the scheme in August, the Case 1 Euro Naro portal is live in several languages, and applications are open to foreigners as well as Italians. Journalists who browsed the listings found what you’d expect: houses marked “to be renovated”, some needing an inspection before anyone talks numbers.
The catch, in plain numbers
The euro is the cheapest part. Renovation on these places often lands around €100,000, sometimes more. Buyers put down a deposit of usually €2,000 to €5,000, cover notary fees, registration and cadastral taxes, and commit to finishing the work within roughly three years. Miss the deadline and you lose the deposit. That’s the deal. It’s a repopulation project, not a giveaway.
Still, the maths gets interesting fast. A whole house for the price of a parking space in most big European cities is not nothing, if you’re patient and you like quiet towns.
If you’re serious about it
Three things before you fall in love with a listing photo. One, visit first. Two, get a local geometra to estimate the real renovation cost, because that number decides everything. Three, picture the town in February, not in August. Small Sicilian hill towns are beautiful and very, very quiet.
And once the paperwork is done, the practical side of moving starts. People underestimate the small stuff. Like how you keep watching the news and shows from home once the Italian internet connection is in. We wrote about moving abroad without losing your TV, and if you’re weighing countries against each other, what Mexican residency actually costs is a useful comparison. Not sure where to land at all? Our piece on where expats are happiest in 2026 is a good starting point.
Follow the news from your country, live
Missing the evening news, the morning shows or the big match back home? With an IPTV subscription the channels from your country come straight to your screen, wherever you live.
See the full worldwide line-up on our Channels & Coverage page, then start a free 24-hour test and check your own channels in minutes.