I bought a house for just 85p to turn into a holiday home – hundreds want to rent it already
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Plus, other people that bought homes for less than a pound
- Alice Penwill, Travel Reporter
A BRIT who bought his first home for €1 now has hundreds of people wanting to rent it out.
George Laing, 32, bought his derelict, three-storey home for a bargain price of 85p in Mussomeli, Italy, back in December 2022.
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He bought his home under a council scheme that encourages people to renovate abandoned homes.
With admin fees, agency costs, and energy certificates added, the total cost was €5,000 (£4,300).
However George, who lives between Mussomeli, Sicily, and Eastbourne, East Sussex and works as an antiques trader, has managed to keep the renovations less than £10,000.
There was lots to do from fixing the leaky roof, the property also had no electricity and had to have the water supply reconnected.
George did the work almost all on his own but hit some hurdles along the way like when a storm hit early one morning and "buckets of water" fell into the house.
He said: "I wouldn't say it's a completely glamorous lifestyle, but it's definitely a rewarding one."
George documented his project on social media, and now claims more than 500 followers have signed up through his website to a queue to rent the home in support of his journey.
With the response to his first project being so positive, he bought a second €1 home in the Mussomeli area in April 2025.
George said: "It's been the best decision I've made. I've got a waiting list of more than 500 people waiting to rent my home out.
"I just use my website and a booking form, I don't have to use Booking.com or Airbnb - it's edging up to nearly 600 people now."
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George added that his second €1 home is a five minute walk away and it will likely cost him the same as the first.
But it should be slightly easier to transform as the house is "structurally sound, it's huge and it won't take too much work".
George's long-term goal is to buy a "whole rows of one euro homes" to have his own "community".
One condition of the €1 home scheme is a three year deadline to renovate the facade and the roof.
If the owner does not carry out this work within 36 months, a fine of up to €5,000 can be issued.
But that didn't scare George, and now he's even looking at opening p an antiques shop too with Mussomeli being the perfect place.
Depending on the region, a number of towns and villages across Italy have offered the cheap €1 properties to encourage people to move to the area.
There are around 25 regions who are taking part, each with a number of properties.
Many of the areas have a dwindling or aging population and hope to build the community again.
The properties range from small houses to larger villas, but are all in a very rundown condition.
The conditions for buying each property also vary, but the majority of them need large renovation works which are part of the scheme
George explained that for €5,000, he can buy a 200 to 300 square foot retail shop, which in the UK could be between £200,000 and £300,000.
So far there aren't any antique shops in Mussomeli so he believes it could be a good business venture.
It wasn't just the one euro house deal that persuaded George to head over to Italy, the cost of living was also a big factor.
George said that prices of living in the UK has become "crazy expensive".
He'd love to buy a property in the countryside, but would struggle to do so at the moment because of the "disparity between wages and property prices."
This woman bought an 85p house and turned it into her dream home – it even has its own spa and wine cellar.
Another businessman quit the UK and bought a house for 85p in a sunny holiday hotspot.
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