About to turn 30 and looking to get onto the property ladder, UK-born George Laing found himself facing decades-long mortgages on little more than shoebox-sized flats in London.

A little internet research showed him that in some places in Europe, instead, he could become the owner of a multi-bed property in a picturesque location.

After mulling Bulgaria too, Laing stumbled on one of Italy’s first €1 house sales.

Laing, who runs online auctions and buys and sells antiques, is now renovating his first house in Sicily, and on the lookout for more bargains.

London was too expensive so I bought a €1 house in Sicily

“I was living in London with more than 30 per cent of my paycheck going on rent so when I decided I wanted to invest in property, I had no way of saving for the deposit,” Laing says.

“If I wanted to buy a house, my credit rating wouldn’t have been high enough to get a mortgage.”

With a budget of around €5,000 (“It was all I had in my account at that point”), Laing abandoned the idea of London and narrowed down his options to Italy’s €1 house scheme.

“I have no real connection to Sicily. I went there on a school trip when I was about 14 and don’t really remember any of it,” he says.

“I just really wanted to own my own house and there aren’t many places in the world where you can do that for just a few grand.”

He says the community of Mussomeli seemed “on the up not down” with a lot of improvements to community spaces – so he decided to pick out a property there.

‘You didn’t see pictures of any of the properties beforehand’

Italy’s €1 house schemes have boomed in popularity since the first sales and many municipalities now put photos and descriptions of the properties online in advance.

However, when Laing was investing, he arrived to view the structures in Mussomeli with zero prior information.

“There wasn’t a huge amount of thought that went into my decision because you didn’t see any of the properties beforehand,” he says.

“When you turn up on the day, you are with 10 other people and a woman who takes you around the town with a bunch of over 100 keys and it’s just potluck which houses she decides to show you.”

The property Laing plumped for was on sale for €1 and in relatively good condition.

“The roof wasn’t falling in and it seemed pretty sound,” he says. “Plus my lucky number is 11 and that’s the number of the house.

“When you’re paying around €5,000 in total [including notary fees] for a house, you can’t be too picky.”

He was also viewing the houses with an American who had already bought three and looked set to snap up several others.

“I pulled him aside and asked him to let me just have this one,” Laing says. “It required a bit of sweet talking.

“There isn’t an unlimited supply of houses and the councils get thousands of emails about them so there’s some pressure just to say yes.”

Under the conditions of the scheme, George can’t sell within three years of purchase. But after that time has passed, he is free to do as he pleases with the property.

What it’s like to buy a €1 house in Italy

After agency and attorney fees and an energy certificate, Laing had his name on a property in Mussomeli for €5,000.

“You wouldn’t even get a shed in London for that,” he says. “I was paying over €1,000 for my rent so this house only cost me five months rent.”

The scheme Laing bought into required him to renovate the roof and exterior of the property within three years.

“You can be charged a €5,000 fine if you don’t, but councils are lenient because of COVID interruptions,” he says.

‘It’s a labour of love’

Laing had plenty of work to get on with. While there were beautiful marble stairs, original light fittings and mahogany beds, there were also smashed doors, disintegrating walls and cracks.

“I could have paid a surveyor to tell me there is a massive crack in the house, but I already know that and the house hasn’t moved in two or three hundred years so I don’t think it will do so any time soon,” he says.

“The most shocking thing, though, was that there was a lifetime of possessions in the house because the owner had left unexpectedly.”

Laing spent his first few trips over to Sicily clearing out the wardrobes and chests but now he has turned his hand to installing a bathroom on his own.

“I’ve never done it before but YouTube is amazing and it doesn’t have to be perfect,” he says.

The water and electricity still need to be connected up, but that hasn’t stopped Laing from staying in his house while he does the repairs.

“I stay in the house for two days. Then it gets to the point when I’m desperate for a shower so I check into the local hotel for a night,” he says.

“I’ve also only been using hand tools to renovate the house, so it’s going to be fantastic when I can use power tools.”

George has created a guide to help others who might want to buy a property in Italy.

You can also follow along with his journey on his Instagram account.

What is the real cost of buying a €1 house in Italy?

On top of the purchasing costs of €5,000, Laing says he has spent around €300 on materials so far and is saving money by attempting to do as much of the work as possible by himself.

“I’m doing it all on a shoestring budget,” he says.

He describes the roughly €1,500 travel and hotel costs as the biggest expense so far.

At the end of the renovation, which will include installing two new bathrooms and a kitchen and transforming the basement into a self-contained flat, he estimates it will have cost him under €15,000.

Laing says he is already looking to buy another property in the area and hopes to have 10 properties around Italy by the time he is 35.

“I would highly encourage anyone else interested to take the journey as well,” he says.

“People sometimes think you need hundreds of thousands to get on the property ladder, but here that’s not true.

“You don’t have to stay trapped in where you are. I now have more chance of being able to afford a flat in London having renovated this property. Just take the risk.”