WATCHING her new friend admire her gorgeous villa in Italy, Sara Bertagnolli hides her smug grin.
“It must have cost you a fortune!”;; says this British while admiring Sara’s gorgeous Italian home.
However, little does she know that Sara, 38, and her husband Luca Sguazzini, 37,have paid less than a pound for the entire building.
The couple are just two of the growing number of people from all over the world who have invested in Italy’s .
“We bought a 1000-year-old three-bed house for just €1,”;; Sara says.
“Most people think it’s a joke or a trick, but our village home came in at the equivalent of 84p – you can’t get a bag of crisps for that.
“Our home would have cost £500,000 in London or €350,000 in Rome.
“It’s the best decision we’ve ever made. We’re beating the cost-of-living crisis and giving our children a dream upbringing.”;;
Former fashion designer PA turned influencer Sara and husband Luca, a former model, live in a three-bedroom terraced house in the village in Motta D’Affermo, Sicily 50 miles east of Palermo, and are proud parents to daughters Luce, three and five-month-old Aria.
“We are just like hundreds of thousands of mums and dads in Britain,”;; Sara says.
“We used to think we could never have enough money to buy even a tiny flat and get onto the property ladder.”;;
Sara was born in Merano, , worked as a personal assistant before meeting Luca who is from in Portugal at a Milan fashion show in 2015.
The pair wanted to see the world so in 2017 bought a £1500 , converted it, and started sharing their adventures travelling the globe on social media.
In 2020 when lockdown hit the couple were in Italy where they heard about the €1 housing scheme.
Set up in 2017 by a small number of counties known as municipalities in Italy, the scheme was designed to combat depopulation and stimulate local economies.
“Young people in rural parts of Italy were moving to the cities. Villages were dying and farms and houses abandoned,”;; says Luca.
“That has meant across Italy there are thousands of cottages, homes and apartments which are derelict or abandoned, many hundreds of years old.
“In Italy if you own a , you still have to pay local tax on it every year even if it’s considered worthless.
“So many landowners who no longer wanted the property decided to join the schemes and sell their properties cheaply.”;;
Since then, interest in the scheme has skyrocketed with over 60 Italian municipalities adopting the €1 house initiative.
Now almost 95% of the €1 homes are being purchased by foreign buyers with Brits, and Americans leading the way.
According to italicsmag.com the scheme gives buyers from Britain and other countries cheap entry to the European property market.
Families are also being lured by a desire to change their lifestyle, Italy’s cheaper cost of living and their ability to work remotely, often in other countries since Covid-19.
Luca adds, “In Sicily one local mayor bought up a range of derelict farms and homes and started the €1 house program.
“It spread due to its success across many parts of the country.”;;
While appealing, Luca says there are strict rules that must be followed in order to bag a bargain property.
“You need to move your family to Italy and be resident for a certain period of time and meet strict renovation requirements,”;; he says.
“Dozens of British people have taken advantage of that scheme, many renovating their homes after buying them for less than a pound and selling them for up to £250,000 which is a staggering return on investment.
We pay just £50 a year for the propane gas to run our kitchen stove
Sara Bertagnolli
“We started applying for houses because we knew it was the only way we could afford to buy property and have kids.”;;
In 2023 the couple were visiting Motta D’Affermo in Sicily – a tiny village with 800 residents and has a 12th century castle and churches dating back to the 13th century.
“A local villager we’d gotten to know told us about a 1000-year-old house which had been derelict for 20 years and the owner was desperate to get rid of it,”;; Sara says.
The three-bedroom terrace house was in an older part of the village and had no running-water or electricity and decade’s worth of dust and bird droppings throughout.
The property has a 100 sq. metre top floor featuring a large entryway, a laundry room, kitchen, bathrooms and three bedrooms.
The basement is also 100 sq. metre boasting five-metre-high ceilings having been used centuries ago to store food and grain.
Sara explains: “We saw it and fell in love. The owner wanted €1 for it, and we said yes instantly.
“The property was so old it had no proper deeds or paperwork because it had been in one family for centuries.
“We agreed to pay the €2,000 (£1,600) for the property searches, inspections, and deed recreation as well as the €1 fee.
“It took six months but in December 2023 we became the official owners of our 84p home.
“We instantly began cleaning the decades of dirt which had accumulated in the derelict home.”;;
The couple discovered traditional blue and white flooring tiles common in the region were intact.
To buy these tiles today would cost thousands as they are antique.
The couple, assisted by local tradesmen repaired the roof, plastered the walls, repainted, reconnected the power and water and began basic repair work.
“We have a strict budget of €20,000 (£16,813),”;; says Sara.
“We have made so many friends in the village. Many people come and help for free.”;;
Other villagers have donated tables and chairs and other furniture after learning the new homeowners were dedicated to upcycling and restoring the home to its former glory.
“The locals love the fact we don’t want to turn it into a stainless steel, all glass modern building,”;; the couple say.
Just before their second daughter Aria, now five months, was born in December last year the couple completed renovations on the kitchen.
“I had to paint the kitchen six times until Sara announced it was the perfect shade of vintage cream to match our refrigerator,”;; Luca says.
“We found a 1950’s stove in a second-hand store for £250 and installed it.
“We were stunned when we checked online, and the same stove was selling for £2000 in Rome.”;;
The couple also found a vintage table for the kitchen, have upgraded the bathroom and are lovingly restoring tiles and walls in the living room.
Sara and Luca say living in the village means they are finally able to save money.
According to international cost comparison site numbeo.com the cost of living in London is 183% more expensive than Sicily Italy where the couple live.
For a mum like Sara, it means real savings.
“We pay just £50 a year for the propane gas to run our kitchen stove, the average cost of electricity which includes heating our one-euro house in winter costs on average £150 a month,”;; she says.
“Property tax known as IMU is £280 a year and the British equivalent of council tax known as TARI is £180 a year.”;;
Sara and Luca have also bought a four-hectare olive farm with two rundown small stone houses on a hillside overlooking the sea outside the village.
“The farm has 250 olive trees; some are almost 1000 years old,”;; she says.
“The farm was abandoned and cost €70,000. This year we got our friends to help harvest the olives and pressed 300 litres of highest-grade extra virgin olive oil.”;;
Since lockdown, the price of cold pressed extra virgin oil has skyrocketed. Some brands sell for £50 a litre and Sara and Luca plan to sell their specialist olive oils once their farm licenses are approved.
The pair are also planning to build a tiny home complete with swimming pool, and hot tub.
They will install solar power and renovate the old stone buildings into glamping cabins to turn their farm into a sustainable tourist destination.
“We’re using all local materials including cork from local trees, local stones and upcycling building materials as part of the plan,”;; Luca says.
The pair even secured a €70,000 (£59,000) grant to help fund their tourism plans.
“Sara did up the plans and when we discovered we’d won the grant we were thrilled,”;; Luca says.
According to the couple buying a small farm or Olive Grove will cost more depending on where it is located and how large it is.
“We spent more on the 4 hectares of olive groves but it was still a bargain,”;; Sara says.
“We never knew buying a €1 home would lead to this happening.”;;
We learned that a few pennies can go an exceptionally long way in Italy
Sara Bertagnolli
The couple are now helping families across Europe who are looking to create their own dream lives for just 84p.
“So far, we have helped 20 families buy €1 homes here,”;; Sara says.
“We’re honest about our experience and love sharing our tips and advice.
“When Aria was born in December, we knew moving here was the right thing. We have a new home, a farm, a growing business, and lots of new families joining us on the one-euro house dream.
“We have become €1 home influencers, and we are lucky to be able to work and earn money from our home and farm.”;;
In 2024 the Italian government approved digital nomad visas and that means more Birt than ever before are destined to live in Italy.
“We have British friends who have bought homes locally – some spend one-euro others spend more than £150,000,”;; Luca says.
“We know our cheap as chips home is the answer to the cost-of-living crisis.
“If you have ever dreamt of leaving Italy and nabbing a bargain house, now is the time to do it.
“We learned that a few pennies can go an exceptionally long way in Italy.”;;
