5 tempting places that will pay you to move there

Antikythera is a tiny Greek island with 20 sq kms of beautifully untouched nature, lovely beaches and clear water. Potamos is the only village and is home to only 40 residents who live here on a permanent basis. They are hoping to repopulate by inviting families to move to Antikythera. On arrival, they will receive a house, some land and a monthly payment of 500 euros for the first three years. Apparently four families have already moved which has meant the island’s only school could reopen.

While the capital of Chile isn’t short on residents, they are inviting tech entrepreneurs to move there to launch their businesses. A program dubbed Start-Up Chile started in 2010, with two options. One offers $40,000 to female founders of start-ups and another is for start-ups that have been running for less than three years. Lucky selectees will receive year-long work visas and free co-working space, along with a network of contacts to get them going. Visit www.startupchile.org.

This scenic and pretty town used to be dubbed “Little Naples” and had around 8,000 residents. However, these days there are only 2,700 remaining. The town’s mayor, Nicola Gatta, wants to revive the town and is offering around €2,000 to families wishing to move there or €800 for singles. It is necessary to take up residency in the town, rent a house and be employed at a salary of a minimum €7,500 per year.

This charming town is around an hour’s drive from Palermo and it was voted the most beautiful town in Italy in 2016, but residents are leaving. The town’s deputy mayor wants to fill the vacant homes in the town and is offering them for only €1, less than the price of a coffee. There is a catch, as the new owner must fix up the run-down properties within 3 years, which can cost around €15,000. There will also be a €5,000 security deposit, refundable once the renovation is finished.

While this doesn’t affect us in Europe, it is interesting to hear that Maine is offering a tax relief on student debts, a growing problem for the young in the USA. The programme is hoped to attract a younger workforce to the state and offers tax credits to new graduates who wish to move there. Basically, whatever they pay on their student loans annually is then subtracted from their income taxes, helping the young graduates start up their new lives.