Times are tough right now. The cost of living is rising everywhere and we’re all feeling the pinch, so we’re pretty sure that you’ll be interested to hear that we know how you can get half-price rent. All you have to do is move to Italy.
Let us introduce you to your new home: Radicondoli, a tiny hilltop town in Tuscany. Life isn’t going to be particularly fast or exciting here, but you will wake up to stunning views of the north Italian countryside every morning. You’ll spend your days wandering through the Medieval cobbled streets, popping in and out of gorgeous little buildings, and not worrying about spending your entire paycheque on rent every month.
The only catch is that this town is small. Like, really small, and sort of in the middle of nowhere (though Florence is only an hour or so away by car). There are less than 1000 residents, and the nearest city, Siena, is around 50 minutes’ drive away. Don’t expect the locals to speak English either; if you don’t already speak Italian, it might be time to book some classes.
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So, to help out Radicondoli’s dwindling population, it’s on the hunt for new residents. The council is putting €300,000 into funding businesses and building new facilities in hopes that it will rejuvenate the local economy. On its website, the municipal authority explains that its goal is to ‘improve people's quality of life, stimulate economic development and residential development, and also invite new friends to join the community’.
As well as subsidising rents for new landlords, which means cheaper rent prices for the tenants, there will be grants for commuters, new schools and nurseries, and funds for people to install eco-friendly heating.
To be eligible for half-off on your rent, you have to commit to staying for at least four years. Once you’ve taken advantage of the low rent for a while and are ready to commit long-term, Radicondoli is also footing between 15-25 percent of the cost of a house for first-time buyers up to €20,000. This is a grant that you never have to pay back, as long as you don’t move away within a decade.
Radicondoli isn’t the only Italian town trying to grow its population with attractive deals for newcomers. Several places have made headlines for selling houses for €1, although they all required intense refurbishment and a lot of TLC. That’s not the situation here – the houses in Radicondoli remain in good shape, they’re just far away from, well, everything.
Time Out’s travel editor Grace Beard has visited Radicondoli. She recommends ‘grabbing a seat on the hillside terrace of family-run pizza restaurant La Pergola. Their signature tasting pizzas are unforgettable, each little slice dolloped with local ingredients from Puglian burrata to Chianina beef tartare.’
Convinced? You can find out more about your future in Radicondoli on its website here.
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