Watch the documentary ‘Italy’s One Euro Homes’ via SBS On Demand .
After two decades of living in the fast lane in London, Australian expat Danny McCubbin wanted a lifestyle change.
“I was looking for a life in Italy” says McCubbin, 58.
“I wasn’t ready to go home to Oz.
“I am passionate about Italy. I’ve got lots of friends here … my work in London [with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver] brought me to Italy often, and when Brexit happened, I wanted to be part of Europe.”
Danny McCubbin welcomes Dateline correspondent Evan Williams into the house he bought for one euro in Mussomeli, Italy.
McCubbin bought in Mussomeli, in central Sicily’s hinterland, where the local council is selling the town’s abandoned houses to foreigners for the headline-magnet amount of one euro.
“At the time, I thought it was too good to be true,” says McCubbin.
To say they’re “fixer uppers” is an understatement but McCubbin says the place he bought wasn’t too bad.
“I don’t have any building skills and I’m not a great handyman, but I could tell with this house that the foundations were pretty good.
“It was in a pretty good state compared to many of them, which are just rubble,” he says.
At the time, I thought it was too good to be true.
Danny McCubbin
And there lies the catch: buying and renovating it will cost a lot more than one euro.
Administration fees alone cost almost €3,000 for signing the paperwork.
And a condition of buying requires the place be renovated within three years.
Those renovation costs should be counted in tens of thousands of euros.
One of more than a thousand abandoned homes in Mussomeli, Sicily.
For a city littered with abandoned homes, the “Case 1 Euro” scheme is a public relations solution to an expensive problem.
By selling the dream of living in Italy, foreign buyers fix up their old homes with their own money, the town receives a facelift, and it barely costs the city a thing.
The brainchild behind it is Mussomeli’s deputy Mayor, Toti Negrelli.
He says the city has sold about 100 one euro homes and claims there are about 1,000 more empty homes he hopes to soon see on the market.
Typically, the homes are deceased estates where the inheritors – often living in another city or country – don’t want or need a second home; particularly when taxes on second homes are high and the repair bills are even higher.
Abandoned homes
Mussomeli’s abandoned home problem is not unique in Italy.
For decades, Italians have left rural towns to seek opportunities in other cities, or abroad.
An estimated 2,500 Italian towns and villages are feared to become ghost towns due to depopulation.
In Mussomeli, 91-year-old local Salvatore Ginex, has watched it happen from his doorstep.
“On this street, you’d be amazed how many abandoned houses there are. There are 12 abandoned properties now,” says Ginex.
Danny McCubbin and his neighbour Salvatore Ginex in Mussomeli, Italy.
McCubbin bought his €1 house just a few doors down from Ginex, and the two have become friends.
For Danny, wary of how the locals would receive an influx of foreigners moving into the town, it’s nice to be welcomed.
“I just love his company,” McCubbin says.
“I just think to myself, if somebody who is 91 who’s probably never left Sicily, can be so open-minded to accept me and to accept people buying these €1 houses, then that’s a good thing.
“And it’s a good thing for the town.”
McCubbin’s one euro home needed renovating before it could be lived in so he bought another place just up the road for €8,000. In Australian dollars that’s roughly $12,000 – a steal when compared to Australian real estate.
It was ready to live in after only a few minor renovations.
He then rented an old shopfront in the town’s main piazza and started a community food project called The Good Kitchen.
Come for the one euro home, stay for the lifestyle
Two years later, with a comfortable home and The Good Kitchen fast becoming a community institution, McCubbin realised he didn’t need his original one euro home anymore, which had remained abandoned since he bought it.
What’s more, it was deteriorating in front of his eyes, material costs had increased, as had the quotes, and builders were hard to come by.
So, McCubbin sold the house back to the original agents. It’s since been bought again for one euro.
“I lost almost €3,000 on the paperwork, but at the time I needed a house with a fixed address to gain Italian residency, so it was a good investment,” he says.
“The one euro home was the catalyst that brought me here – but my life is now about so much more.”
Danny McCubbin outside his community food project in Mussomeli, called The Good Kitchen. Credit: Danny McCubbin @dannyforgood
He’s dismayed at recent tabloid headlines that paint his story as a “nightmare” where he was “forced” to sell.
“The sensationalist headlines are not true,” he says.
“It was a considered decision.”
Far from living a nightmare, McCubbin has no regrets.
“Life just gets better and better in Mussomeli,” he says.
“The more time I spend here, the more I feel part of this beautiful town.”
