Italy dangles up to US$32,000 to lure people to settle in rural Tuscany

Imagine waking up each morning to a view of the Tuscan countryside, making your home in the romantic Italian region known for its dry red wine, medieval architecture, and groves of olive trees.

Now imagine getting paid to do it.

Tuscan officials launched a new “Residency in the Mountains” programme in June. The programme created a €2,800,000 (US$3,001,740) fund to encourage people to move to the rural countryside.

The fund, part of an effort to stabilise the country’s dwindling population, will pay people grants ranging from €10,000 to €30,000 (US$10,720 to US$32,161) to move to Tuscany and fix up a home there.

“The purpose of the intervention is to favour and encourage the repopulation and socio-economic revitalisation of mountain areas, acting in contrast to the marginalisation of these areas,” the programme’s website states.

The grants will pay 50 per cent of the costs of renovations of a home in one of 76 Tuscan cities with fewer than 5,000 residents – including San Casciano dei Bagni, known for its thermal pools; Caprese Michelangelo, the birthplace of the renaissance artist of the same name; and the island of Capraia Isola.

The programme is open to Italians, EU residents, and non-EU citizens – so long as they have established long-term residency lasting no less than 10 years. Eligible applicants must commit to making the Tuscan property their primary home.