This beautiful Italian town is paying people $30,000 to move there. Here's why

Officials at Presicce town in the Puglia region are willing to pay people 30,000 euros (roughly $30,000) to buy an empty plot.

Several small towns in Italy have come up with lucrative schemes in the past to lure more residents in order to help their economy. From selling dilapidated homes for $1 to offering houses at throwaway prices, there have been many such offers made to people.

Italy: Officials at Presicce town in the Puglia region are willing to pay people.

Now, officials at Presicce town in the Puglia region are willing to pay people 30,000 euros (roughly $30,000) to buy an empty plot and take up residency, CNN reported.

“There are many empty homes in the historical centre built before 1991 which we would like to see alive again with new residents,” Alfredo Palese, local Presicce councillor, told CNN.

Through the offered cash, the town hopes to attract potential residents to take up residence in the town at a time when it has been witnessing a fall in the birth rate.

“It is a pity witnessing how our old districts full of history, wonderful architecture and art are slowly emptying," Alfredo Palese said, adding. “We will be offering up to 30,000 euros to people willing to move here and buy one of these abandoned dwellings.”

Even though the details of the deal are still to be finalised, Alfredo Palese said that the authorities are looking to open up applications in the upcoming weeks on the town hall website.

One of the main qualifications to get this incentive is that buyers must take up residency in Presicce and buy one of the properties built before 1991.

“The total funding will be split in two: it will go partly into buying an old home and partly into restyling it, if needed,” he said.

“After the merger, as per Italian law, our wider territory will be blessed with more public funds, roughly [1 million] euros per year for several years forward, which we intend to invest to revitalize the old district,” he added.