🇮🇹Italy

The hill town of Cammarata (Agrigento) offers historic-centre houses for a symbolic €1 to buyers who commit to renovate them, under a municipal regulation in force since 2015. Its continually updated list currently marks a couple of houses as available; most are assigned or withdrawn.

PromiseA stone house to restore in an inland Sicilian hill town.

What it takesVery few houses remain (the official list marks most as assigned or no longer available). You pay notary costs and a full renovation, and must file the project documents required by article 10 of the regulation with your request. Deposit and works deadlines are in the regulation — read it before applying.

Highly qualified or specialised workers who move their tax residence to Italy (from tax year 2024) pay income tax on only 50% of their Italian employment and self-employment income, up to €600,000 a year, for the year of the move and the following four years. With a minor child (or a child born/adopted during the period) only 40% is taxed.

PromiseMove to Italy for a skilled job and pay income tax on only half of your salary for five years.

What it takesYou must meet Italy's high-qualification/specialisation criteria, not have been Italian tax resident in the previous 3 years (6 years if you work for the same employer or group as before you left, 7 if you previously worked for it in Italy), work mainly in Italy and stay tax resident for at least 4 years — leave earlier and the relief is clawed back with interest. Income above €600,000 is taxed in full. It is a tax regime only; non-EU workers still need a work visa/permit.

People who move their tax residence to Italy can replace Italian income tax on all foreign-source income with a fixed annual payment — €300,000 for those transferring residence from 1 January 2026 (€50,000 for each family member included). The option renews yearly and ends after 15 years at most.

PromisePay one fixed annual sum on all your foreign income while living in Italy.

What it takesOnly makes sense for very high foreign incomes: the lump sum is €300,000 a year for 2026 arrivals (it was €200,000 for transfers up to 31 Dec 2025 and €100,000 before that) and must be paid in one go by the income-tax balance deadline with no late-payment correction. You must have been non-resident in Italy for at least 9 of the previous 10 tax years. Italian-source income is still taxed normally. It is a tax option, not a visa.

Guardia Sanframondi (Benevento) runs a 'Casa a 1 euro' initiative, approved by council resolution 31 of 29 December 2025, that matches owners of run-down historic-centre buildings who want to sell with buyers who commit to restore them. The comune publishes a regulation (also in English), buyer/seller expression-of-interest forms and property sheets, and has reopened the application window.

PromiseA historic-centre house to restore in a hilltop Sannio wine town.

What it takesThe houses belong to private owners: the comune only promotes the scheme and is not party to the sale, so you negotiate with the seller and pay notary, taxes and a full restoration yourself. Buildings are described as run-down, some with serious structural problems. Deposit, project and works deadlines are set in the comune's regulation — read it before applying.

A fast-track national (type D) self-employment visa for non-EU founders who set up an innovative startup in Italy. You first obtain a clearance (nulla osta) from the ministry's Italia Startup Visa committee, then apply at the Italian consulate with proof of at least €50,000 dedicated to the startup.

PromiseMove to Italy to build your tech startup, with a dedicated visa route for founders.

What it takesIt is a visa route, not funding: you must show at least €50,000 available for the company, and the business must qualify as an 'innovative startup' under Italian law. You still need lodging, consular fees and later a residence permit. Holders can then apply for Invitalia's Smart&Start loans, but those are separate and assessed on merit.

Invitalia lends innovative startups (registered as such and under 60 months old) 80% of eligible costs at zero interest — 90% for all-women/under-36 teams or teams with a PhD researcher returning from abroad — and startups in Central-Southern Italy get 30% as a non-repayable grant. Teams of individuals, foreign citizens holding the startup visa and foreign companies opening an Italian base can apply.

PromiseFund your Italian startup with an interest-free state loan, partly forgiven if you build in the South.

What it takesIt is mainly a loan you must repay; only startups in Central-Southern Italy get the 30% grant element. The company must be (or become) a registered 'innovative startup' less than five years old, and you co-fund the remaining 10–20%. Applications are assessed on merit within 60 days, first come, first served.

Troina, a hilltop town in Enna province, sells empty houses for €1 through the House Troina portal linked from the comune's website; five houses were listed for sale and four as sold when checked.

PromiseA €1 house in one of Sicily's highest towns, with a local team to guide the renovation.

What it takesYou pay a €5,000 deposit to the comune within three months of being assigned a house (returned when the renovation is finished), plus notary fees and the full renovation, whose cost depends on the building. The portal's own support services are paid extras. Stock is small and the offer is described as time-limited.

Invitalia's Resto al Sud 2.0 funds new businesses started in eight southern regions by people aged 18–34 who are inactive, unemployed or 'working poor': a non-repayable start-up voucher of up to €40,000 (up to €50,000 in some cases), or a 75% grant on investment plans up to €120,000 and 70% on plans between €120,000 and €200,000. Open since 15 October 2025 on a rolling basis.

PromiseStart your own small business in Puglia, Sicily or Sardinia with most of the start-up costs covered.

What it takesOnly for under-35s who are not in work (or in the GOL programme or 'working poor'), and the business must be based in one of the eight southern regions. Applications are judged in order of arrival within 90 days while funds last, and you co-fund the remaining 25–30% of investment plans. Foreigners need legal residence and Italian paperwork to apply through Invitalia's online area; this is not a visa.

People receiving a foreign pension who move their tax residence to a qualifying small comune in Southern Italy (or one of the listed 2009 L'Aquila / 2016 Central Italy earthquake comuni) can opt to pay a flat 7% substitute tax on their foreign-source income. Since 7 April 2026 the population limit is 30,000 inhabitants (previously 20,000).

PromiseRetire to a small southern Italian town and pay a flat 7% on your foreign pension.

What it takesOnly comuni of up to 30,000 inhabitants in eight southern regions (plus listed earthquake-zone comuni) qualify, judged on the official ISTAT population figure. You must not have been Italian tax resident for at least the five prior tax periods and must come from a country with tax administrative-cooperation agreements with Italy. The option is made in your Italian tax return and the tax is paid in one lump sum; Italian-source income is taxed normally. It is a tax regime, not a visa — non-EU retirees still need an elective-residence or other permit.

Sant'Elia a Pianisi is reported as Molise's only comune joining case a 1 euro for 2026, assigning homes by points (extra points for using local firms).

PromiseA €1 home in a historic Molise hill village with no income limits.

What it takes€5,000 three-year surety; project due within 6 months, works start within 2 months of permits and finish within 3 years; renovation typically €20–25k plus notary.

Dozens of Italian comuni sell abandoned historic-centre buildings, which they own or broker for private owners, for a symbolic €1 (or a low auction base such as Sambuca's €3). In exchange, buyers commit to renovating within set deadlines. Each comune runs its own lots through public notices (avvisi) or expressions of interest.

PromiseBuy a stone house in an Italian hill town for the price of an espresso.

What it takesThe €1 is only the purchase price. Buyers pay notary, registration and survey costs and must fund a full renovation within the comune's deadlines, usually secured by a guarantee deposit or bank guarantee that is forfeited if deadlines are missed; amounts vary by comune. Lots are small, windows are short (e.g., Zungoli: 30 days), and many viral listings are long closed.

Sardinian regional grant, run by each small comune, covering 50% of the cost of buying and/or renovating a first home, up to €15,000 per household. It is renewed each year (2026 rules: DGR 18/31 of 22/04/2026; from 2026 the scheme covers comuni of up to 5,000 residents, up from under 3,000 in 2022–2025), and newcomers from other regions or abroad get priority points.

PromiseSardinia pays half the cost of buying or renovating your village home, up to €15,000.

What it takesThis is a housing co-funding grant, not a cash relocation payment: you must buy or renovate a first home and stay resident there for 5 years (no selling or renting), or repay pro rata. Each comune runs its own call with a small budget (often about €52,000), and the 2026 windows mostly closed in September 2026 (e.g., Mandas 15/09, Urzulei 28/09, Giba 30/09).

Under the Sicilian 2026 stability law, the Region refunds 50% of the IRPEF actually paid, for three years (max €100,000 a year), to people who move residence from abroad to Sicily and buy or renovate a home there. The rate rises to 60% for comuni under 5,000 residents.

PromiseMove to Sicily from abroad and get back half your Italian income tax for three years.

What it takesIt's a refund of tax you have already paid, so you need Italian taxable income or a pension, and you must buy a habitable home or renovate one you own. Per media, first claims for 2026 movers open only from 1 September to 31 December 2027, after filing the 2026 tax return.

Italy's 2025 Mountain Law (arts. 6–7) gives doctors, nurses and other health staff, and school staff, who take posts in mountain comuni a yearly tax credit for housing: 60% of rent or mortgage costs, up to €2,500 (75%, up to €3,500, in linguistic-minority comuni). It also gives career and ranking advantages.

PromiseTake a hospital or school job in the Italian mountains and the state covers up to 60% of your rent.

What it takesThis is a tax credit against Italian income tax, not a cash grant. You need an Italian public-sector health or school job in an eligible mountain comune. Each strand is capped at €20 million a year nationally, and some implementing decrees (which comuni qualify per measure, credit procedures) were still pending as of mid-2026.

In 2026–2027, Italian private employers that make remote work the normal arrangement for a permanent employee under 41 who moves residence from a non-mountain comune to a mountain comune under 5,000 residents get a full exemption from employer social contributions, up to €8,000 a year.

PromiseKeep your Italian job, work remotely from a mountain village, and your employer saves up to €8,000 a year for letting you do it.

What it takesThe benefit goes to the employer, not to you, and only for permanent Italian employment contracts. Annual funding is capped (about €18.5M in 2026 and €21.8M in 2027, per secondary source). INPS operating instructions were not verified, and it cannot be combined with other contribution reliefs.

The Tuscan comune of Radicondoli (Siena) gives a non-repayable grant of 15% (max €7,000) up to 25% (max €20,000) of the price of a first home bought in its territory, provided the buyer takes up residence there. Separate WivoaRadicondoli calls cover rent, landlord renovations, heating and new businesses.

PromiseUp to €20,000 toward your first home in a medieval Sienese hill village.

What it takesYou must buy a first home and register residence there. The grant percentage tier and any residence lock-in are in the PDF bando, not on the page (media cite 10 years for purchase). Rounds close 31/12/2026 and 31/12/2027, and the comune's budget across all WivoaRadicondoli strands is about €300,000.

Italy's national long-stay visa for highly qualified non-EU remote workers and digital nomads who work, employed or self-employed, for clients or employers in Italy or abroad. It is issued by Italian consulates for up to one year.

PromiseLive anywhere in Italy for a year while working remotely for your existing employer or clients, and bring your spouse and young children.

What it takesThis is a 'highly qualified worker' visa, not a lifestyle visa. You need a 3-year degree, a regulated-profession qualification or 5+ years of senior experience, plus at least 6 months in remote work, and income of at least 3× the health-cost exemption threshold (about €25,500–28,000 a year per consulate). Pensions, rent and dividends don't count toward the income. Remote employees also need a signed employer declaration of no relevant criminal convictions.

Three Monte Amiata comuni will select 5 under-35 teams building 'silver economy' (elder-care/ageing) services, sharing a €50,000 grant pool plus 6 months of free hub space and an incubation programme.

PromiseGrant money, free coworking and mentoring to build an ageing-population startup in Tuscan mountain villages.

What it takes€50,000 is shared across 5 teams (no per-team figure); solutions must be tested on the local territory; Italian-language programme. No relocation requirement stated.

Farini, an Apennine comune in the Val Nure (Piacenza), launched case a 1 euro in 2026 and has posted individual stone buildings (e.g., Immobile 2 & 3 at Blucchi di Cogno San Bassano, ~880 m) for a symbolic €1 to buyers who renovate them.

PromiseA €1 stone farmhouse cluster in the Piacenza Apennines, open to non-residents and foreigners.

What it takesListed buildings are collapsed ruins (cadastral F/2); buyer pays all renovation and notary costs, posts a €5,000 3-year surety, files a project within 6 months of the deed and must finish works within 2 years of starting.