Tonight on Dateline. We'd be happy to open the bidding. Whilst many Australians are pricedout of the housing market at three. At 3,322,000 dollars Sold! Imagine a placewhere you can buy a home for just $1.50. This one is the first house at €1 that I wanted to show you. Oh, this is actually one euro? Wow.
But what's the catch? Are foreign buyers the answer to help reverse Italy's rural depopulation problem? Or could there be another solution? In central Sicily, the hilltop town of Mussomeli is a maze of medievalstreets and historic houses. And it's experiencing a property boom at the lower end of the market. Today I'm meeting a local real estateagent who's going to show me.
What's on the market. Buongiorno. Hi, I'm Evan. Valeria. Nice to meet you Thanks very much. for seeing us today. It is a pleasure. So what are we going to see first? This one is the first house at €1that I want to show you One euro?Yeah, it’s one euro.
Wow, let's have a look. Yeah, let's go. Has this just come on the market, then? Yeah, it's a new one. I'm expecting a house at this price will need a lot of work. All right. Okay. Here there is a kind of leaving room.
Right on top there is the tiles. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. We are on the top of the house. But it's in good nick. It's quite nice.Yeah. Let's have a look at the other room. Let's go. En suite. Yeah. The bathroomThat's right. That's obviously beenput in. It's a modern addition.
Yeah. Fantastic. I'm surprised to findthe house is livable. This is quite nice. This is the classic sort of Italian balcony, or Sicilian balcony Oh look and you can see the mountain. That's great. Yeah, you can see the mountain. Yeah. Nice place for a coffee. Yeah.
So this is the old medieval section. And then that are we seeingis that all new section? Exactly. Great. It's a really spectacular town, isn't it? All up in the mountains. Foreigners are drawn to Italy's cobbled streets and rustic charm. It's no Florence or Venice,but here in Mussomeli anyone can buy a slice of the Italiandream for less than a cup of coffee,.
And they're selling fast. Now, what about some of these places? Are any of these coming on the market? Well, this one, this onewe sold this one, here living. We sold that one. Really? Are these all one euro houses? No. the house more than one Euro.
But probably this onewill be soon on the market for one euro We are working on this. I quite like to look at it. You want to buy it? I like the balcony. Yeah. I can keep it for you. Good. Please. I like that one. Let's go to have a look.
Oh wow, okay Nice high ceilings. Yeah. Okay. So tell me about this place. Well, here. This is like the living room. There is a toilet there that probablyI will advise to take it out. Renovate Okay, so interesting space. Different to the other one. Exactly.
Worse condition. Yeah, you can smell. It's a bit musty. It's a bit damp. So water's getting in here somewhere Probably, yes. Because this one is likethe original roof. How much do you think people have to putinto these houses to bring them back? I know it's different because it dependson the problems, depends on the materials.
But roughly speaking, how muchwould you say you have to put into this? Minimum of 20,000 – 25,000 in thehouse and one euro? You have to calculatelike really a minimum. The more yes, less no. Yeah. Yeah. And that would dependon the actual condition. Exactly If it didn't have a roof, for example.Yeah. Yeah. Do you ever walk into a place and thinkeven for €1, I'm not going to sell this? Yeah, it's happened sometimes,but even though we sell it, so.
Oh, really? Yeah. The reason these places are so cheap is because there are so many of them In the past few decades alone, over a millionItalians left their towns and villages moving to the cities or abroadin search of work and opportunities Mussomeli is a textbook example. The town has housesfor about 40,000 people but a population of only 11,000.
And the old homeshave been abandoned for years. So how many? How many €1 homes are for sale nowand how many have you sold? In this moment available Around 30 and we sold around 100. 100 already? Yeah. Since 2017? Yeah. So it's been very successful.
Yeah it is. This on the market? Yeah, for sale. This one and this one. Yeah.It's just one house. Ah that's one big house Yeah. It's quite big. Yeah it is. But needs a lot, a lot of work. How many square metres is that?.
Taking on a huge renovationfor a one euro house requires commitmentand not just financial. Buyers have to consider whether they really want to live here. Hello, Danny. Hi, Evan. Knock, knock. Come in. Yeah, very good. Thanks. You're good? This is amazing.
So what's an Australian doing in a townlike this? In a house like this? Good question, Evan, good question. So I was looking to move to Italy. I've been obviously Australian in Londonfor 23 years, passionate about Italy and I saw it as a way of moving here and sort of an entry into life in Sicily. And so what did you like about this one? I don't have any building skillsand I'm not a great handyman,.
But I could tell with this housethat the foundations were pretty good and that it was in a pretty good statecompared to many of them, which are just rubble. What I loved about this place, it'soriginal. It's been abandoned for 15 years. So when I walked in, it was just as ifthe person had got up and left. Actually, sadly, she died. So it's it's a bit of a mess. Come and have a look,mind your way, there's no lights or anything.
So this was the bedroom. The lady actually died here, and they had all the chairs lined up herebecause that's what they do to view her and say goodbye. The TV was covered in the corner,but it still didn't freak me out. I've saved a lot of her stuffjust because there's some good memories hereand some lovely objects. But it is almost like the kids comeand take what they want, the family, and then the rest is just left.
So this is the kitchen. Okay. Wow. I think this is what sold the house for me, I just I don't know. I can just imagine peoplesitting around the table eating woodfired stove there. I mean, you know, they've done the 70s renovationsor whatever and added things.
But yeah, a lot of it's kind of original. Okay. And this is the balcony. Lovely. Yeah. So Danny, I know you're a tough guy,but it doesn't look like you live here. You know I don't live here. It's going to take a whilefor that to be renovated. So rather than renting another place,I decided to look around for somewhere to buy. And I found a place for €8,000.So I bought that.
That's where I live. YeahRight. So that's not a bad price for a house. It's amazing. For a house. 8,000 Compared to London pricesor even Australian properties these days Absolutely. Exactly. The median Australian houseprice is now close to $1 million,.
But Dannyis about to show me the house he lives in and it costsjust 12 and a half thousand dollars This is mine. This is my. McCubbin McCubbin. Yeah, you can't miss it. Okay, here we are. This is my living room. Oh, okay. Oh, good. Yeah. It's is much better, isn't it? Yeah.
Very nice. Livable. Thank you. Complete with a balconyand a view as well. Gorgeous. Right down the valley. The people you meet,the locals in this area, how do they feel about Danny McCubbincoming from from Australia moving into this house,or your house for €1? What the reaction here? To be honest, Evan, they were a bit dubious at first.
You’re a dubious character. I mean, you know, so suspicious. I think they are welcoming. They're welcoming, though,if you have the right attitude. With young peopleleaving town for education and jobs, it's mainly the older generationthat remain. One neighbour Danny has made friendswith his 91-year-old Salvatore, who lives alone. Salvatore has seen a lot of changesin this town,.
And he's worried about itone day being empty. Salvatore and I have become good friends. I just. I love his company. I some days I just sit there and talk and I just think to myself, if somebody is91, he's probably never left Sicily can be so open-minded to accept me and to accept people buying these one-eurohouses, then that's a good thing. And it's a good thing for the town.
Many towns in Italyhave one-euro home schemes, but Mussomeli has been hailed a success thanks to clever marketing. Instead of enticingyoung Italians here to repopulate, they're targeting foreignersand the dream of owning an Italian home. City gets around 1,000 emails a day asking about €1 homes. And on almost any given day, you'll find people like Thea and her friendswalking the streets looking for one.
I just bought €1 house now Bought one! Really? Already?Really today. Oh, wow Hello. Hi. Wow. Where did you buy the house just today? Yes, today. Not far away from here. Fantastic. How long you been looking for?.
For 23 hours. So what is ityou like about the one you bought? First of all, I had a visionwhen I heard when I first heard about the project of €1 houses,I had a vision which with a small town, a lot of stores, a very old town, and me getting to my house, to my €1 house, getting inside to a small pathand taking the house, taking something which is nothing today and making the mostbeautiful house in that place. Thea is Israeli but lives in Romania.
She plans to turn her new purchaseinto a spiritual retreat. And what sort of state of repair is it in? How much workdo you think you need to do in it? Well, it's a lot. It's a lot because I wasn't even allowedto get inside. It's so dangerous. Okay. So do you know roughlyhow much it might cost to renovate? No, but I don't care.
Yeah! Only a few foreign buyers make the decision to move herepermanently. Someone who's gone all in with Mussomeli is Danny. Not only has he bought two houses,he also rents a space for an ambitious project. All right, Danny. How are you?Great, thanks. It's warm in hereYeah it's a bit chilly out there today.
Isn't it? Yeah. So what's this place? This is the Good Kitchen. So we rescue the food fromthe supermarkets, they deliver it to us, and then we make good, nutritious meals for vulnerable people in the town. Danny has a background in food. In London, he worked for celebrity chefJamie Oliver on social food programs. Now he's setting up a community kitchen.
In an old shopfront on the town piazza. My primary goal with the Good Kitchenis that it becomes a social enterprise. So then we actually startemploying the young people of the town, 50% unemploymentfor youth in Sicily. So my primary objectiveis that it becomes a business and that it's functioning business andthen we employ the young people to run it. I see. So it's actuallywhich is one of the key reasons why people are leavingor have been leaving. Absolutely.
Absolutely. Helping Danny today are a group of young friendslike Salvatore, who's here on a courtordered community service The group's youngest member, 10-year-old Davide is also inspired. But this for you is more it'smore than just buying a cheap house. Absolutely. I mean, the one-euro house was the hook, but that it's a lifestyle for me.
And he has advice for othersthinking of buying a €1 home. I'm quite adamantwhen somebody reaches out to me and says, look, I'mthinking of coming setting up a BnB or somebody wants to set up a business,a restaurant or a cafe. I say to them, 'Please don't. If you set up a businessand take it away from the people of the town, then that's not a good thingin a town that struggling anyway. So if you work remotely fantastic,it's a great opportunity for you, but also I say, think of something that's goingto give jobs to the people of the town.
That's the most important thing. Come on. With a boom in remote working, small townslike this are starting to see a trickle of new residentslooking for a slower and cheaper way of life. But there are an estimated 2,500 villagesacross Italy on their way to becoming ghost towns. So it would take thousands of peoplelike Danny moving permanently.
To reverse the depopulation trend. I'm on my way to Calabria, one of Italy's poorest regions, to visita town getting a new lease on life thanks to foreignerswho are desperate to call Italy home Camini is home to only 300 locals and over a hundred refugees. Rosario and Guisy are the driving forces behind an ideathat saved the town from abandonment. They run a.
Co-operative that helps integraterefugees into Italian society. Can you come in the afternoonto talk with them? A state funded program providesrefugees with language classes, job training and community activities. Guisy and Rosario are the brains behind the scheme. Laura la naturally they are. They look cooperative. Before they could.
Bring migrants to Caminito revitalise the town, they had to make the town livable. With government funding, they've renovated enough housesfor 118 people. So this is a really good spot to see what Camini was likebefore the program started. This is part of the old part of the town. It's falling apart, needs repair. Obviously, it's in a real state,whereas just next to it is a place.
That's been renovated and repairedand now using it for tourist accommodation looks really cute,but it's more than that actually. They're preserving here hundreds of yearsof culture and tradition and life. But to bring the town back to life,they needed help. So in 2011, Guisy and Rosario organised for a small group of migrants to kickstart their program. Despite the initial reservations,the initiative was a success. It was soon to take off in a big way. Since the European migrant crisisin 2015, over three-quarters of a million.
Asylum seekers and migrants crossedthe Mediterranean and landed in Italy. It was a pivotal moment for Camini Two people enjoying a second chanceat life are father and daughterMohammad and Doua Buona sera They're refugees from Syria. While many of the new arrivalsthat come through Camini move on, it seems the town is alsobecoming a home for others. But in a.
Village just a few kilometres away,the local mayor became famous for welcoming migrantsand as a result is facing jail. Rural Italy has long sufferedfrom depopulation, leaving picturesque townsfeeling abandoned. That is, until a place triesto do something about it. Just like the village of Camini, there's another town nearby that was once world famousfor giving a warm welcome to migrants. And I reported from there back in 2015. Domenico Lucano is Riace's Mayor.
Having grown up in the crumbling town, today he's determinedto reverse its sleepy image. With a plan that could also solveone of Italy's biggest problems. Rather than shunmigrants like the rest of the country, he wants to welcome them. Today, signs welcome refugees in languages from Arabic to Frenchas those accepted as genuine refugees move into the homesothers have left behind. Trained in jobsand given a modest stipend,.
Immigrants now make up arounda quarter of the population. Back then, Riace's schemeand the man behind it were hailed a huge success. In 2016,the mayor was even named in Fortune's iconic annual list of the world's50 greatest leaders, alongside Angela Merkel, PopeFrancis and Justin Trudeau. But no one could have predicted what would happen next. The massive inflow of asylumseekers, refugees and migrants to Italy.
Was followed by a rise in anti-migrant politics, Riding this to power, the right wing League party and its leader MatteoSalvini, targeted Riace and its men. Then a surprise twist. In 2018, the mayor was chargedwith abetting illegal immigration, fraud, forgery and embezzlement charges he said were political.
The case made international headlines, which triggered protestsagainst the central government. Prosecutors asked for seven years in jail. He was given 13. However, he's still living in Riacewhilst he awaits the outcome of his appeals and his pleacertainly feels very different to 2015. I'm seeing virtually no people aroundand I'm certainly not seeing anywhere near the same number of refugeesor migrants here.
The reason I've come back to Riaceis to try and meet the mayor. Hello. Feeling the stress of the prosecution. Initially he didn't want to talk, but he eventually warmed up. What's been the impact of the caseon your migrant program in Riace? What, in your view,are the forces behind this? What about the latter?Is that a possibility?.
Riace once had 800 refugees and migrantsfrom more than 20 different countries living here, creating businesses, filling up schoolsand bringing life to the town. A political shift and alleged mismanagementhave left it sadly empty. Once again. But its moment in the spotlight inspiredother towns to welcome foreigners.