PHOTO: GROOVY MASH POTATOES
Forget paying for a holiday in Tuscany – now you can get paid to enjoy life there!
Tuscany’s regional authorities are offering up to £25,000 (€30,000/$32,000) to people willing to relocate to its mountain towns. The Residency in the Mountains (Residenzialità in Montagna) program provides grants between €10,000 and €30,000 (£8,470 – £25,000) to help cover the costs of buying and renovating a home.
Tuscany has allocated a total of €2.8 million (£2.3 million) for this initiative to encourage repopulation and economic revitalization of towns facing population decline. According to the program’s website, the goal is to “favor and encourage the repopulation and socio-economic revitalization of mountain areas, acting against the marginalization of these regions.”
Only homes in mountain towns with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants qualify. There are 76 eligible towns, including San Casciano dei Bagni, famous for its thermal baths; Santa Fiora, known for its springs; and Caprese Michelangelo, the birthplace of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.
Tuscany’s regional authorities have announced they will pay people up to £25,000 (€30,000) to relocate to mountain towns. Above is Santa Fiora, one of the locations in the scheme
Applicants must be adults and Italian citizens, EU citizens, or non-EU citizens with a residence permit of at least ten years. They should be currently registered as residents in an Italian town or city that is not a mountain community and must make their new Tuscan property their permanent residence.
Applications are accepted via the Tuscany Region website and must be submitted by 1pm CET on July 27.
The programme only applies to houses in mountain towns with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. One of these is Caprese Michelangelo, the birthplace of artist Michelangelo (pictured)
SOURCE: THE DAIL MAIL