A SAVVY Brit has managed to save thousands on rent, bills and food after leaving the UK to buy an 85p house in a sunny holiday hotspot.
George Laing, 31, is currently renovating a three-storey block in Sicily, Italy on a shoestring budget in the hopes of turning it into his dream home.
The cheap and ambitious project has cost George less than £15,000 so far – and he already owns an entire home, furniture and has made a friendly set of new neighbours.
It’s a far cry from the average price of a UK home that will set back first time buyers a whopping £288,000, according to the UK House Price Index.
For the businessman and entrepreneur, the chance to escape the mundane lifestyle in the UK and go to Italy was a must.
A soaring cost of living ruled out a life in London for George, leaving him stuck in Eastbourne shelling out thousands each month with nothing to show for it.
After researching the cheapest homes available to buy in Europe, George found the one Euro Houses project.
The scheme takes derelict, abandoned buildings across Italy and flogs them to people at an insanely low price.
George quickly found a run-down three-bedroom cottage in the hilltop Sicilian village of Mussomeli and signed over the papers on the home.
Overall, the home and all the taxes that came with the paperwork cost him just £5,000.
He told The Sun: “Financially getting on the property market in London or anywhere in the UK is incredibly hard.
“£5,000 in the UK isn’t going to get you diddly squat.”
George was well aware the renovation work would quickly run up the price and could end up costing him well into the thousands.
Typical construction costs for a pretty big project in the one Euro Houses scheme was around £50,000 – an amount the business man knew he had no chance of finding.
But, instead of paying local labours looking to bump up every cost possible for a glorified tourist, the 31-year-old decided to do the work himself.
With no prior background in revamping anything close to a three storey house George was stuck on where to even start.
Everything from furniture and old corsets to moulding wine bottles and religious statues had been dumped by the previous owner meaning it all had to be swiftly shifted.
I’ve never done any of it before, but YouTube is proving a surprisingly informative tutor, and I’m taking online electrical and plumbing courses too
George Laing
But the main work had to be done to repair a gaping hole in the roof, a number of rotting beams and some large cracks in almost every room.
All issues that needed urgent attention if George was going to have a place to stay.
Since purchasing his first home, George has been working tirelessly to build his future kingdom.
Setting himself a tiny budget of just £15,000 for the entire project, the young homeowner is slowly making incredible progress.
He said: “I’ve never done any of it before, but YouTube is proving a surprisingly informative tutor, and I’m taking online electrical and plumbing courses too.
“Of course, it’s not without its challenges. It’s taken me six months to get the electric switched on.
“There are occasions when I wonder if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.”
Better booze, better people, better life
Despite the crumbling walls, battered windows and overgrown weeds Laing said the 85p home was a steal from the moment he saw it saying he is now “happier than ever”.
George says one of the best parts of having a home in Sicily is how different the lifestyle is to the UK.
He told The Sun: “In Sicily life is just a bit slower. You’ve got a different quality of life, and obviously the weather is 25-30 degrees everyday. And it’s a beautiful place.”
With just 10,000 residents in the whole of Mussomeli, George knew the hustle and bustle of his typical life in the UK would be long gone.
It’s just nice to buy things that are a lot cheaper. You get a beer or a cocktail in Sicily for €1.50 or a glass of wine for €2 whereas it’s £7.50 now in London for a pint
George Laing
He said from the first moment he arrived he could tell he had entered into a community that took a strong pride in togetherness and being good, friendly people to one another.
Cheaper booze and huge slices of pizza also sweetened the deal.
As a cheeky chap in his early 30s, George has been thrilled to find out the price of alcohol is drastically lower abroad.
He added: “It’s just nice to buy things that are a lot cheaper. You get a beer or a cocktail in Sicily for €1.50 or a glass of wine for €2 whereas it’s £7.50 now in London for a pint. It is expensive.
“Even just living there day to day you just spend less money which is a nice bonus.”
Not only did he get his hands on a home for a little under a pound he also got a chance to meet new people in new places.
How does the one Euro house scheme work?
DEPENDING on the region, a number of towns and villages across Italy have offered the cheap €1 properties to encourage people to move to the area.
There are around 25 regions who are taking part, each with a number of properties.
Many of the areas have a dwindling or aging population and hope to build the community again.
The properties range from small houses to larger villas, but are all in a very rundown condition.
The conditions for buying each property also vary, but the majority of them need large renovation works which are part of the scheme
According to Maurizio Berti, who runs the website casea1euro.it: “The houses are owned by private individuals who often want to get rid of them so as not to pay taxes and heavy taxes.
“We are talking about dilapidated or unsafe properties that need major renovations.”
Conditions include notary fees, paying an additional three-year buying guarantee policy of €5,000 (which is refunded when it expires) as well as starting the project within two months once permits are given.
The houses are put to an auction where people can bid on them so they technically aren’t all €1.
While some do sell for €1, on average houses sell for around €5,000 euros, although some are up to €20,000.
Some of the schemes even offer to pay you money for buying a home if you can boost the economy with a new business venture.
The locals in Sicily are also a major shakeup to what George is used to.
He said: “I spoke to my neighbour, this lovely 80-year-old woman and my first interaction with her was actually quite funny. I can’t speak Italian but I wanted to try and engage with her so I used Google Translate and spoke into my iPhone.
“I think it was the first time she’s ever seen an iPhone let alone heard an iPhone speak another language.
“By the second time I came back I learnt a few words and phrases and we had a little hug and now I sort of have built a little relationship with her.”
When asked why the feeling of community felt so much stronger in Sicily George had an answer answer.
“You buy all your food from these local restaurants and little supermarkets so you quickly build relationships with people in the community,” he said.
“It’s easier because the people who live don’t have the stress of the lifestyle of London.
“Some of these people have been doing the same job for twenty years. They’re very happy, very content, and they take a lot of pride in their tiny little bakery.
“It’s a far different energy and you don’t get that stress, no one’s really worried about much out there.”
Another positive of the move is that it has made George appreciate other cultures far more and even learn a new language.
He said: “You can only connect with the community so much when you don’t speak the same language so it’s encouraged me to learn the language.”
George is proud of his bold choice and says despite his pals being nervy about the move he is now confident it was the right choice.
With one of the highlights of his time in Sicily being his morning coffee on his glossy balcony up at 765 metres above sea level.