Plots in Swedish lake town sell for 8 pence, surge in demand

What might tempt people to participate in the programme is the location. The town of Götene is situated on the shores of Lake Vänern. It is the largest lake not only in Sweden but also in Scandinavia and the entire European Union.

CNN reports that around 18,000 people live in the Götene region—just under 5,000 in the town and 13,000 in the municipality. However, due to the new programme, this number could soon increase.

29 plots have been put up for sale in these areas (in northern Sweden, about 300 kilometres from Stockholm). Prices start at 1 krona per square metre (about 8 pence). Buyers can build year-round or holiday homes on this terrain.

According to CNN's calculations, building a house on a purchased plot usually costs around 3-4 million kronor, or between £210,000 and £310,000. Meanwhile, the plots typically cost about 500,000 kronor (about £39,000).

The programme launched last month is open to everyone – you don’t have to be a resident of Sweden or declare a permanent residence in Götene. There is only one condition – the buyer must start building a house within two years of purchasing the plot.

Mayor Johan Månsson admitted, "It went viral, and we’ve had thousands and thousands of requests to our telephone exchange." Due to the high interest, the bidding process has been halted until early August.

As he explained, the reason for launching the programme was the accumulation of several unfavourable factors. The main reasons are the economic slowdown and the decline in population in rural areas. – The housing market is currently very slow in our region and Sweden in general because of high interest rates and a bit of a recession, so we wanted to give an injection into the market – he explained.

The mayor emphasised that in the future, the town might introduce a programme similar to the "1 euro houses" in Italy. The uncertainty about this idea stems from the fact that although there is still a lot of available land, an analysis needs to be conducted to calculate how many plots can be offered.

Italy has long been fighting the depopulation of towns by offering cheap houses. In December 2023, the authorities of the town of Pratola Peligna in the province of L’Aquila in the Abruzzo region decided to take this step. Currently, about 7,000 people live there.

Fifteen abandoned buildings were put up for sale. Potential buyers of the 1 euro houses had to meet several conditions, including signing a contract with the authorities within two months and presenting a renovation plan that had to be completed within four years.