This historic village near Florence is paying new residents to move there – and offering plenty of other incentives too
A British woman has described her idyllic life in a picture-perfect Tuscan village where the local municipality pays new residents €20,000 to move there – or half their rent if they prefer.
Jenny Louise Batchelor, 42, says she is living the dream in Radicondoli-Belforte, a village of old stone houses and mazes of cobbled streets, near Siena, where around 960 residents live.
Two years ago, in a bid to stop depopulation by luring new people, the town hall launched a landmark housing scheme to try to reverse the decline, by paying people to live there.
The authorities granted up to €20,000 (£17,397) to anyone who purchased one of the many empty homes to live in. Extra funds were offered for other expenses like transport or serious renovation work, and loans are available for conversions.
Starting this year, the mayor is now offering to pay up to 50 per cent of new tenants’ rent, whether for an apartment in the historical centre or a villa on the outskirts of village, for a limited time.
Whether buying or renting, that person must take up residency.
Batchelor, originally from Lichfield in Staffordshire, moved to Radicondoli 14 years ago in 2011. Back then, she managed an agriturismo (a typical rural guesthouse), restaurant and hunting grounds on the outskirts of the village with her then-husband, an Italian man whom she had met while working in Florence, a bit more than an hour’s drive away from Radicondoli.
Now divorced Batchelor, a PR professional, lives with her two children aged seven and five, renting a two-bedroom home in the village for less than €500 a month.
Her house has a small kitchen, a lounge area and a bathroom and is surrounded by gardens. The major plus point is the “lovely view over the surrounding valley”, dotted with grazing sheep and olive groves, as well as the peace and quiet.
Despite having moved here more than a decade ago, she still qualifies as an outsider so can take advantage of the rental bonus on offer. She has applied for the bonus, which would halve her monthly accommodation costs.
“My original rent in Radicondoli is €450 [£391] so you get up to €200 [£174] towards it for two years provided you stay as a resident in Radicondoli for four years. I have applied but not had the official answer yet,” she told The i Paper, adding that she expected to hear back by the end of the year.
In the meantime, her children are also reaping the rewards of other schemes launched by the town authorities to help encourage people to move here, including university grants, free public transport and vouchers for school books to assist new residents with children.
“We also have help for the school books for the elementary years; the municipality buys the books directly for us,” she said.
That would be €350 (£304) per child saved on books per year, plus 80 per cent of the cost of public transport to get to school is paid by the town hall, she said.
According to national data on average education costs for families, commuting to school would otherwise cost at least €120 (£104) per month for two children.
All resident families with students in the village who attend secondary schools also get vouchers for the purchase of computers and other electronic equipment needed to study. The mayor also recently introduced free mid-morning snacks at the local nursery, the primary school and secondary school in the village, with homemade biscuits and cornetti.
Batchelor, thanks to her knowledge of English as well as Italian and background in communications, now works for the mayor’s office as a tourism PR expert, helping with social media and websites to promote events in the town.
She says she appreciates the safe environment and small-scale, slower village lifestyle in her Tuscan village.
“It’s a very welcoming community. There are lots of events during the year such as music concerts and guided walks across the surrounding green hills and through the town’s old streets,” she said.
“It’s very clean, well looked after and my children love the fact that they can play in the square with the other children, all ages mixing together,” she said.
