Should you’ve ever fantasised about transferring to a sunny island, now’s your likelihood: Sardinia is providing folks a mammoth €15,000 to relocate.
The Italian island - the second largest within the Mediterranean - boasts sandy seashores, blue skies and turquoise waters.
However the island paradise faces dwindling rural inhabitants numbers, as younger locals transfer overseas for work.
To fight this exodus, the federal government has put aside €45 million for the relocation grant, sufficient to cowl 3,000 grants.
So for those who’re already packing your suitcase, right here’s all the pieces you have to know.
What are the foundations of the scheme?
The grant cash sounds too good to be true - and there are just a few caveats.
To be eligible for the grant, you'll have to transfer to a Sardinian municipality with a inhabitants of lower than 3,000 folks.
The cash should even be used to purchase or renovate a residence. The grant can not exceed half of the whole price of the home or renovation - and the federal government won't all the time hand over your complete €15,000 sum.
Lastly, recipients should dwell on the brand new property full time, and should register for everlasting residency in Sardinia inside 18 months of arrival.
Why is Sardinia providing folks cash to maneuver there?
Italy’s inhabitants is ageing. The typical age of Italians is 45.7 - a determine which is about to rise to 50.7 by 2050.
The general inhabitants is projected to say no by practically 20 per cent by 2070, from 59.55 million 47.6 million in 2070.
The issue is especially extreme within the nation’s rural areas - and locations like Sardinia are feeling the burn.
Sardinian president Christian Solinas mentioned that the scheme would encourage younger folks to remain in Sardinia or transfer to the island.
“Thanks to those contributions to [homebuyers'] first homes, [Sardinia] turns into fertile floor for individuals who will transfer there or resolve to construct a household,” he mentioned.
“There will be no progress with no actual enhancement of the territories, of the inside and most deprived areas… We've created the circumstances for younger folks to resolve to remain and develop the financial cloth of probably the most fragile territories.”
Should you do transfer to the island, you may count on to be there for a protracted whereas but. With greater than 500 folks aged over 100, Sardinia has one of many highest concentrations of centenarians on this planet - roughly 33 for each 100,000 inhabitants.