Tuscany is giving people money to relocate to small population towns
Tuscany is looking to boost the populations of dozens of small towns in the central Italian region by helping people buy homes to live there long-term.
The region said on its website that it wanted to "encourage the repopulation and socio-economic revitalization of mountain areas" through the "Residenzialità in Montagna 2024" program it opened up in mid-June by giving money to accepted applicants for the purchase and refurbishment of a primary residence.
Eligible individuals can seek between roughly 10,000 euros and 30,000 euros to help make one of 76 Tuscan mountain cities inhabited by under 5,000 people their new home, with Tuscany having set aside 2.8 million euros for the whole program, according to the announcement.
Tuscany’s website said as of Monday that the program is "not available to non Italian residents."
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It requires candidates to have Italian citizenship, European Union citizenship or a 10-year minimum residence permit to be eligible for the money, it also said.
Italy is a country that allows citizenship based on ancestry, meaning that Americans and people from other countries descended from Italians can have dual citizenship if they and their ancestors meet certain criteria.
Current Italian mountain town residents do not qualify for "Residenzialità in Montagna 2024" funds, according to the region’s website.
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The money to relocate to the sparsely-populated Tuscan cities comes with some strings.
One of the major ones is that the amount of money an applicant gets cannot surpass 50% of how much they are paying for the piece of real estate.
Capoliveri, Licciana Nardi, San Godenzo, Montemignaio, Castiglione di Garfagnana, Caprese Michelangelo and Mulazzo are among some of the Tuscan locales where eligible people can get money to buy a home.
Tuscany will stop fielding applications for the "Residenzialità in Montagna 2024" on July 27, its website said.
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The region is extremely well-known, including for its historical sites and wine. Florence, a popular tourist destination where attractions like the Florence Cathedral and the Uffizi Gallery are located, serves as its capital.
Approximately 61 million people in total live in Italy across its various regions, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.