Is 1 euro too much? Croatian town offers houses for 13 cents

You can find Legrad on the border with Hungary

Legrad is a tiny town of less than 2,000 inhabitants located in Croatia. It lies on the meandering Drava River, which forms the border with neighbouring Hungary. Several days ago, the town got the attention of local media with the announcement that the municipality will offer a new round of almost free-of-charge houses in a bid to attract young families to settle down there. And the price to pay per house will be the symbolic 13 euro cents!

This is not the first time that the Legrad municipality has resorted to this intriguing way of attracting attention and new residents. In fact, the first time it did was in 2018.

A total of five houses ready for occupancy have been sold. Three families have already moved in, and what delights us is that all three families welcomed a new member during their move-in. This has increased the number of children in the daycare centre,” explains the mayor of Legrad, Ivan Sabolić, quoted by HRT.

Why 13 cents for a house, though?

You might wonder how the authorities picked that odd number to price the houses. We already know that Italy has a similar programme titled “Case a 1 euro” or “Houses for 1 euro”. French towns have also been known to dabble in a similar approach to solve their demographic issues.

Well, the answer is quite simple when it comes to the mystery of Legrad’s case as well. Last year, Croatia adopted the euro as its currency but before that, it used the kuna. The local policy was known as “Houses for a kuna” and since at the time of currency conversion 1 kuna traded for 0.13 euros that gives you an idea of how the authorities arrived at that price.

And yes, there are requirements for would-be applicants for the competitively priced properties. Applicants must be under 45 years old, be in a marital or extramarital partnership, and must not have a criminal record or own any other property.