Local authorities offer incentives to draw people back to emptied-out towns and villages in Italy - and to fix up their homes
While council tax is rising in many parts of England, small depopulating towns and villages in Italy are scrapping it to lure new residents.
In the rural village of Offida, in the central region of Marche, local authorities have granted exemptions to paying council tax since 2018. New residents can get the exemption with automatic renewals.
“A few years ago our population was above 5,000 people, now we’re down to barely 4,700 residents but the zero council tax is starting to slowly bring in new people,” Emanuela Stipa of Offida’s municipality tax office told The i Paper.
“We’re also giving a one-off €500 bonus to new residents and families who land here, which is another major lure in attracting new people.”
The only requirement to be exempted from paying the local council tax, which includes waste disposal and other community services, is to declare a maximum annual income of €44,000 (£36,800) per person or per family.
The town of Casamassima (Photo: Proloco Casamassima)
“Once registered as resident, the exemption is granted for 10 years without the need to apply for it every 12 months, and this is very positive”, said Stipa.
Serena Antonelli, from the town’s culture office, says the move has lately drawn in a dozen foreigners who have taken up residency, mostly Germans.
Council taxes in Italy are calculated on the size of the property owned and the number of people living in it, and vary across the country with the lowest ones being in remote, non-touristy areas.
In Offida, located midway between the pristine Adriatic coast and the Apennine hills, a home of 150 square meters where four people live comes with a council tax of up to €300 per year.
If the property 400 square meters, and there are just two people living inside it, the council tax would be worth roughly €500, but the new residents won’t pay it.
“Multiply that for 10 years and you get to spare some €5,000 as a couple just on council tax,” says Stipa.
Offida, which is part of the club uniting Italy’s Most Beautiful Towns, has other perks, too. Property prices are as low as €50,000 for a 60-square-meter duplex, while rentals just €350 for a same-size apartment in the village center.
“The food is also great: we have traditional chi chí, a flatbread stuffed with tuna, capsicum peppers, capers and anchovies, and taccú tagliolini pasta with tuna sauce,” says Antonelli.
The distinctive blue paint of Cassamassima (Photo: Proloco Casamassima)
In the region of Puglia, the “blue town” of Casamassima has also scrapped council tax for residents living in the old district who opt to spruce up the exterior façades of their property, giving them a fresh layer of blue paint.
Council tax there is an average of €500 per year for a two-bedroom home for two people.
According to the local culture office, the walls of the dwellings were first painted blue back in the 1500s as a tribute to the Virgin Mary for having spared the town from a terrible plague.
Casamassima has a population of 19,000 residents, but locals have been abandoning its ancient neighbourhood, which needs revitalisation.
In the deep region of Basilicata, the village of Latronico, where barely 4,000 people live, has taken it one step further.
Authorities here have exempted buyers of old shepherd or farmer dwellings from paying property and council tax for five years. If they also restyle it with a basic makeover, the exemption will be extended for 10 years.
“That amounts to saving roughly some €2,000-€3,000 total per year, and in our case you don’t necessarily have to become a resident, you can just own a holiday home and come and go as you please,” says Vincenzo Castellano, head of a local online housing platform offering cheap homes on sale and for rent.