How the €1 European house scheme actually works

Nearby Bourges is famous for its half-timbered houses (Picture: Getty Images)

In a bid to attract people to the area, a French town is selling a house for just €1 (the British equivalent of just 85p).

Nestled in the depths of the French countryside, the property is found in Saint-Amand-Montrond, close to the city of Bourges, which is famous for its half-timbered houses.

Interested? The property has two bedrooms, as well as a living room, kitchen, toilet, a larger bathroom, a courtyard and a garage.

As ever though, there is a catch. The house isn’t exactly in pristine condition, so if you’re on the lookout for a doer-upper, this’ll be right up your street.

It hasn’t been lived in for 12 years, and as such, the local town hall estimates that the renovations will come at a cost – to the approximate tune of €127,800 (£109,000).

The nearby Bourges has a beautiful cathedral (Picture: Getty Images)

However, all hope is not lost, for the cost of the renovation will be subsidised by the town itself, as confirmed by local urban planning delegate François Blondieau in daily newspaper Ouest-France.

Want to live out your chic French dream? Applications to buy the house opened on April 1, and are set to close on June 15.

You can pay the property a visit from May 15 until the deadline and, if successful, you’ll be expected to sign the deeds in January 2025 with the view to completing work by July 2028 – just in time for your summer holiday.

Why are Italy and France selling houses for €1?

There’s a reason European countries are selling off houses for so little.

In Saint-Amand-Montrond, it’s because the town is trying to attract more permanent residents. At present, just over 9,000 people live here, so it’s relatively quiet.

There have been similar cases in Italy, where places like Taranto, Pettineo, Pratola Pelinga, Sant’Elia a Pianisi and Sambuca di Sicilia have offered up €1 house purchase schemes over the last few years.

Places like Sambuca di Sicilia in Italy have also tried the scheme (Picture: Getty Images)

The reasons are the same as in France: to encourage people, particularly younger generations, into the local area to stabilise the population.

France and Italy aren’t the first European countries to try this scheme: in January 2024, news broke that the riverside village of Legrad in northern Croatia was attempting to sell a house for just 11p.

Legrad, the pint-sized town in question, has seen a gradual decline in inhabitants over the past 100 years.

The beauty spot in northern Croatia now has a population of just 2,000 – so has launched various home-buying initiatives over the years to whip up interest in the area.

After the success of the first scheme in 2018, the government announced a new wave of houses that were put on the market for less than a packet of crisps.

Who is eligible to buy a €1 house in Italy or France?

With this particular French house, the property is only open to those who intend to make it their main (and only) residence.

So, if you already own a home in another country and want to make this your second, your application likely won’t be successful.

Rules can differ between towns, but as was seen with a recent scheme in Mussomeli in Sicily, Italy, buyers needed to: demonstrate the ability to support expenses for the renovation of the property; prepare a project for the renovation within one year of purchase; start work within two months of the building permit being issued; and put down a deposit of £5,000 that they would lose if the work did not go ahead within the three-year time period.

Mussomeli in Sicily has also offered up €1 properties (Picture: Getty Images)

As the scheme is intended to attract more permanent residents, the idea is that you’ll spend most of your time here integrating with the local community.

This ethos is largely also the case in other areas, as seen in northern Croatia earlier this year, with the schemes also hoping to boost tourism in the area as a new generation of homeowners stimulates the local economy, buying from local shops and investing money in local venues.

Likewise, prospective owners of the Saint-Amand-Montrond property will need to commit to staying for 10 years, on top of shelling out for a decent amount of the renovations. No impulse buying: you’ll need to be in it for the long-haul.

What you can (and can’t) do with the property

As previously stated, you’ll need to show a decent commitment to the area: in Saint-Amand-Montrond, you’ll need to stay for at least 10 years and show willing (both in terms of finances and enthusiasm) to do up your property.

If you have any grand plans, you’ll likely need to communicate these to the municipality. But beyond that, if you want to paint the walls of your kitchen bright pink, then go for it.

How Brexit affects your purchase

Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, UK citizens are no longer permitted unlimited access to live and work in the EU. Beforehand, Brits could work and travel abroad with largely the same rights as in the UK, but now, there are tougher restrictions.

The 90-day rule means that, if you have a British passport but no visa, you can only spend 90 days out of a 180-day period in the EU. That applies to both work and leisure, so you won’t be exempt because you spent 89 days at work and want a few extra days for the beach.

This rule doesn’t reset if you return to the UK with the intention of flying straight back to the EU, either.

So, if you wanted to make your new €1 property your primary residence (as the rules with this French town state), you’d need to apply for French residency.

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