The Dark Truth of Why Italy Is Giving Away Free Houses

La Dolce Vita.

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00:00 - Intro
00:49 - Part 1: The Empty Houses Epidemic
02:15 - Part 2: The Hidden Crisis
05:00 - Ad Masterworks
06:27 - Part 3: Running Out of People

[warmbrucuriosity]

After 30 years living in Italy and 30 years trying to help people find work, I can confirm the message of this video. There is also the problem of excessive tax and nightmarish bureaucracy.

[fluidice]

A major factor is the fact that you basically can't hire anyone in Italy. The insane regulations require a license for everything, even IT positions. Instead of pandering to older populations (for the votes, or cash, if they're domestic or foreign, respectively) Italy should maybe, just maybe, give a tiny bit of a chance to the young. Demographic crisis is a consequence of not letting the young people to work or do business of any kind.

[sbrewster]

This is spot on. As a Brit living here for over 20 years I continue to struggle to find decent employment. With my education and work experience I was always employed in the UK. If you buy a home or car then your bombarded with no end of taxes. Just try and sort out any form of documentation here and you will lose your mind. Quite honestly I would leave tomorrow but my other half is still attached to this place. History, culture, food etc. is all great, but without economic growth, investment and opportunities it is tough here.

[codeit]

Just for your info:

0:04 Dolomites
0:06 Cinque Terre
0:15 Rome, Colosseum
0:21 Rome, Ponte S. Angelo, Vatican
0:25 Milan, Duomo
0:28 Alberobello
0:34 Firenze
0:54 somewhere in Tuscany
0:58 San Gimignano
1:13 Chianti
1:17 Amalfi
1:25 Palermo
1:35 somewhere Liguria (?)
1:41 ??
1:55 Capo Miseno, monte di Procida
1:59 Cinque Terre
2:09 Val D'Orcia, Tuscany
2:19 San Gimignano, Tuscany
2:24 Bergamo
2:28 Bergamo
2:30 Milan
2:38 Milan, Galleria VIttorio Emanuele
3:33 Milan, Unicredit Tower and Vertical Forest
3:41 Rome, Colosseum
3:46 Rome, Vittoriano
3:53 Amalfi
3:58 Palermo Via Maqueda
4:07 Perugia
4:10 Portofino
4:24 Milano
4:32 Rome, Vittoriano
4:49 Vatican S. Peter
6:27 Verona
6:48 Ferrara
6:54 P.za dei Signori, Treviso
7:41 ??
7:45-55 Venice
8:15 ??
8:21 Cinque Terre, Vernazza
8:26 Cinque Terre
8:42 ??
9:14 Cortona
9:22 Venice
9:28 Milan, Naviglio grande
9:36 Val D'Orcia, Tuscany
10:02 Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte, Firenze
10:09 Milan
10:20 Rome
(Hints for unknown are welcome!)

[anta]

Here's another issue: I was a young Italian who left Italy due to a lack of opportunity. After a successful number of years abroad I decided to return (missed my family, friends and Italian culture) but Italy doesn't make it easy, either, for those wanting to make it back after spending time abroad. It's just all a out quick fixes without thinking or planning with long term solutions in mind (like these free houses which are designed to create revenue for local politicians many of whom don't give a damn about the average struggling Italian). I for one resent this free house giveaway exactly because I know the dark truth behind it all. Anyway, in the end I had no alternative other than to leave again. It's a completely and utterly ridiculous situation.

[davidrennie]

An Italian friend told me it took 17 licences to open a shop. The short cuts needed to do anything involve paying bribes

[graemekinder]

There's a forum where house owners all shared the cost for a builders licence. Tey also now offer a service where You can get your works signed off for a small cost under this licence. The guy is Italian but has a wife from Australia and was sick of all the madness trying to get his house renovated.

[annanardo]

The economy in Italy has been bad for years, I used to live there. Houses in Si Ily selling for $ 1.00 is more or less a bad idea to invest in. 1. Sicily is a seismic zone, you have Mt. Etna rattling around which is connected to Mt. Vesuvius, which rattles unrelentlessly, causing big time earthquakes. THEN, there's that super volcano in the Bay of Naples, displacing entire populations. All of Italy is seismic. Italy is also one hell of a GORGEOUS country. My family is from Abbruzzo. The $1.00 homes take an enormous amount of money to fix and then they crack because of the seismic tremors.

[vincenzocassello]

as an italian 19 yo guy i have to thank you for this video; most of us don't realize how bad our economy is.

[futurekron]

As a property owner in Italy, I know firsthand what a ripoff some properties there can be! Best to buy something that is "habitable" without major renovations/fixes because the cost of doing them is ridiculously high! You need a permit for everything which is crazy expensive, a geometra or architect (good luck finding one who doesn't require a 10.000euro "feasibility study" just for starters), and (some) contractors will take your money and run, knowing that outsiders really aren't likely to sue. Italians themselves don't pay a lot for properties, but boy, they know how to take advantage of foreigners!

[BluCircled]

The thing is even if you find work in Italy as an employee, the salary isn't great, you work very long hours and you might have to deal with a lot of incompetent colleagues who have their job either because they are related to the boss or because they have slept with him. It sucks.

[corradodeluca]

I live in Italy and Canada. And I gotta say that sadly Canada has recently been collapsing really fast.
Living in Canada is becoming practically unaffordable by most (younger) Canadians. No future.
If this keeps going, I’d pick Italy over Canada in a heartbeat !
Also keep in mind that Italians are famous complainers by nature, even when they have it good.

[lozkko]

I am Italian, and that is all true. But another factor is that culturally Italians like to live in cities, not villages or the countryside. So while house prices are very high in cities (for Italians, but even for foreigners they are not that cheap) in villages not that far away they can be 1/6 of the price. Such extreme differences do not exist in for example the UK (where houses in nice villages can be very pricey, as people prefer to live in the countryside).

[marcosmenescal]

Italy is not alone, Portugal, Greece, Spain and many other countries face gentrification. Italy is a beautiful country with a fantastic history, Italians are really nice people and food is great, but unfortunately the country is ruled by corrupt politicians and the Mafia. Bureaucracy is hell and cost of living is high. Italy is definitely a good country for tourists and for the wealthy, but not for entrepreneurs and the young who want to prosper.

[mateuszzdyb]

there is another aspect. in rural mountainous regions (which means in many parts of Italy), traditional families had 2 houses: one in valley for the winter and one in the mountain for the summer, so when the village depopulates, it leaves two unoccupied houses.

[Joe-pkkb]

I don't think they want people who don't understand any of this. They want people that will ultimately stay and correct the problem. My wife and I are Americans who bought a home in Italy in 2022. We both work online and that's why these deals made perfect sense for us. We did not get a 1 Euro home however, but decided to spend a little money on a much nicer home in the country. We lose literally no standard of living from America - in fact it actually improves because the cost of living is way lower. I believe with the change in mindset from Covid, people are deciding what really matters to them, and I believe this will have a positive effect on Italy's population crisis, that so many other countries also share.

[franzsidney]

Yup, you’ve got this just right, I left Italy in 1996 for the well known reason that at 23 you were already too old for job Announcements requiring: ‘max 22 anni, nella presenza, multilingue, laurea e esperienza’. 😮 All my Italian colleagues at work have experienced good professional growth in the U.K., something impossible in our country where nepotism and personal recommendations reign, giving opportunities to family and friends who might not always be the most qualified people for the job. Also, I remember being at Uni and studying economics, and by the end of the course I suddenly understood why the system would never work: because it’s literally designed to crush workers and students and suck all their earnings and time in endless bureaucracy and taxes on everything possible. I will always love and miss my country, but I can never return. Except for holidays. ❤

[recarras]

They do these to keep receiving property taxes. Its an easy way to get fresh money for the government and also a way to avoid the closing of mayor's office in most of these towns.

[BigCookeOut]

I will say, that was the smoothest transition into a sponsor I have ever seen. Everyone needs to do this because I actually watched the entire sponsorship section.

[robc]

Hate to break the news to you, but the us and canada are starting to see similar issues. The youth cannot find careers even with 4 year degrees. Here in the us we have properties in alot of towns that are bought by chinese and large corporations and used for rentals. There are similar programs for corporations where they can buy large quantities of homes, sometimes a dollar each. They are making prices skyrocket and taking home ownership away from future generations