1 euro houses in Nulvi: 'Many people come for this initiative, but then prefer to invest in better housing'

The headquarters of the Municipality of Nulvi and the mayor, Antonello Cubaiu

One of the first 1 euro house projects in Italy was launched in Nulvi. This village is located in Sardinia, in the province of Sassari, and is the main centre of Anglona, a historical region in the north of the island. In this centre, as mayor Antonello Cubaiu explains, one of the issues that has had to be dealt with is depopulation. This is where 1 euro houses come into play, and the most recent person to arrive in the village is an American! Let’s find out more.

Talking about 1 euro houses, how did your experience in Nulvi start?

We started eight years ago: we took office in 2015 and in 2016 we began holding meetings with the citizens of Nulvi to let them know that the council was trying to do something to fight against depopulation. All the municipalities around here, after all, are subject to a strong dynamic of demographic decrease, especially in inland areas. Here we were also aiming to redevelop the historic centre, which was and still is 70 per cent abandoned. At the beginning it was a risky gamble, because there was no kind of guarantee that the project would really work: consider that at the time in Italy there was only the experience of Salemi, in Sicily, and little else. However, we were convinced and we went ahead with selling 1 euro houses, publicising the initiative in newspapers and on TV. Soon after, 10 properties were made available from people who had inherited them and they wanted them to be included in 1 euro house project.

How many requests did you receive for available houses?

First of all, the municipality did not buy these houses, this should be specified. They were structures that had been completely abandoned for twenty or thirty years, in some cases real ruins that the heirs had no interest in renovating but which, on the contrary, they wanted to get rid of.

I travelled a bit around Sardinia, from Cagliari to Nuoro, to get their signatures, and the project started to take off. We must have received 6000 or 7000 e-mails of interest from halfway around the world. We even had periods when the phone was ringing off the hook.

Repopulate, redevelop: has this also triggered a virtuous circle of employment opportunities in the area?

The guidelines encountered by those who want to buy these houses are particularly attentive to employment opportunities within the Nulvi community.

Can you give us an example?

There are four guidelines. If you want to apply for a one euro house on the municipal website there is a form to download and fill in. You will find four questions:

• The first one will allow you to have a higher score in the ranking list by committing yourself to choosing local companies in the renovation of your 1 euro houses.
• Another asks the buyer whether or not they intent to choose local technicians: a higher score will always be awarded to those who decide to do so.
• Similarly – without there being any obligation – if someone declares that they will establish their residence here, they will get a more advantageous score.
• Then we introduced a final idea concerning the building permit, which as you know normally lasts 36 months, plus an extension of 12 or 24. Well: in this case, those who make a commitment to renovate their house before 36 months have another advantage in the ranking.

All of this has allowed ten houses to be assigned already.

Who have they been allocated to? Can you tell us about the profile of a typical buyer?

Let me be more precise: six houses have been allocated, then bought and already renovated. For two other houses we are currently in the phase of acquiring the necessary documents to be able to finalise the purchase. Another house was bought by a businessman from Kazakhstan who, however, once the war broke out in Ukraine – where he probably had interests – disappeared and is no longer traceable. I plan to use this house and turn it into a small town square. Finally, the tenth house is currently being assigned.

Two of these houses have been assigned to citizens of the Czech Republic. Another was bought by two Swiss people and is being renovated, then there is another property renovated by a couple from Cremona in Italy, as well as one by a couple from Perugia. Then there is a house – it was the palace of a well-known local family – bought by a gentleman from Como who is making three flats for his daughters. Finally, there is a family from Rome that is acquiring the documents to make an appointment with the notary and finalise another purchase.

So the municipality is acting as intermediary between private sellers?

Exactly. We have done a census showing that we have between 130 and 140 completely abandoned houses. Some of these are ruins. Others can be renovated for an acceptable amount of money. This is the situation, especially in the historic centre area.

Let’s do the maths. If someone buys a house for 1 euro, how much does it then cost to renovate?

This is an issue. It is true that housing is ridiculously expensive, but renovation takes resources in proportion to the size:for a 60 square metre structure at least 60 thousand euros, I would say, even considering the increased cost of materials.

Nulvi was one of the first municipalities to take this route, wasn’t it?

The ‘Case a 1 Euro’ project in Sardinia originated in Nulvi and Ollolai, and it was a winning bet. It also gave my municipality a lot of visibility. People have come here from Portugal, Spain, France, Canada, Argentina: People really have come from all across the world, and this is also thanks to the echo in the international media, of course.

With 140 free houses, the project in Nulvi will go on for quite a while I imagine

I’ll tell you something else: recently some Argentinians came here wanting to buy houses for 1 euro and they ended up buying a house that cost more, but still a reasonable price. There is also this phenomenon to consider: many people come for this but then prefer to invest in houses that are in better shape, that need less radical intervention, and that still cost an affordable amount. Lately, to tell you the truth, I accompanied an American woman who decided to make this choice rather than buying a 1 euro house. What interests us is that, one way or another, this flywheel of development always offers signs of vitality and allows us to fill a few gaps in the historic centre, where there are so many empty houses. Too many.

Find out more about buying 1 euro houses in Italy with our guide