CNN
–
You’ve heard of houses for sale in Southern Europe for the price of a cup of coffee. Now a country in northern Europe is implementing a similar scheme: selling plots for just a few cents.
Götene, 200 miles southwest of Stockholm, is selling 29 plots of land at prices starting at just 1 kroner, or 9 US cents, per square meter (11 square feet).
However, this is not a land. It’s land on which lucky buyers can build their dream home – to live in, or as a holiday home, as the rules currently stand.
So if the heatwave is making southern Europe look less attractive by the day, this could be just the ticket.
Götene, a rural area with 5,000 inhabitants living in the main town and 13,000 in the wider municipality, is rural Sweden at its best. It is located on the shores of Lake Vänern, not only Sweden’s largest lake, but also the largest in Scandinavia and the entire EU, about 10 times larger than Lake Constance. Only Russia has larger lakes on the European continent.
For hikers, Götene also has a small mountain nearby – Kinnekulle. It is also home to two UNESCO-rated sites: Platåbergens Geopark and Lake Vänern Archipelago and Mount Kinnekulle Biosphere.
So why would such an idyllic town need to stage a fire sale of its land?
Mayor Johan Månsson says it’s a combination of the current economic downturn and the shrinking rural population.
“The housing market is currently very slow in our region and in Sweden in general due to high interest rates and a bit of a recession, so we wanted to make an injection into the market,” he told CNN.
“We’re also seeing low birth rates and an aging population, so we have to do something, bring more people here.”
Månsson said they decided to sell 30 plots for a nominal fee, choosing land that had been “on the market for many years” without selling.
“We thought why not, it is an extraordinary situation that requires extraordinary measures. So we did it and now it has become a sensation, I don’t know what to say.”
The scheme started last month with about 30 interested buyers, Månsson said. Four of them bought plots for one krona per square meter. The area of the plot varied from 700-1200 square meters.
Since then, he says, things have spiraled.
“It went viral and we’ve had thousands and thousands of calls to our call center,” he said.
“We have two people in our call center in the municipality and they have been sweating a lot for the last few days. We are basically in a state of crisis.”
Due to the unprecedented demand – Månsson says there have been calls from all over the world – the authorities have suspended the tendering process until early August to determine how to proceed. When it resumes, there will likely be a tendering process for the land, rather than selling it for just 1 kroner per square meter (the lower price only applies if no one else wants the land).
Månsson says building a house typically costs about 3 to 4 million kroner, or $280,000 to $375,000. Plots of land typically cost around 500,000 kroner, or $47,000.
So far, anyone can buy a plot – they don’t have to be a resident of Sweden, or commit to living there permanently.
But the city may have to revise the rules, he said. And of course, building a house doesn’t give you the right to live in it full time. Visa rules are in the hands of the government.
The city’s only requirement is that construction of the house begin within two years of purchasing the plot.
The fire sale in Götene does not end with these 30 plots. Månsson said it is “not impossible” that they could do some kind of cheap housing scheme similar to the “one euro” houses that rural communities in Italy are famous for.
“We have a lot more land and we’re going to have to sit down and see if we can do something to make something more out of it, other than these 30 parcels. We need something to offer the callers,” he said.
In fact, it may even be a turning point for the remote community.
“It was basically a stunt – we thought we’d be lucky to sell one or two,” he says.
“With the interest we’re seeing now, it would be fantastic if we could sell all 30.
“We have been at a very stable 13,000 population for several decades. If this goes well….
“If you are looking for a quiet life in the country, we can offer you a high quality of life. It’s the perfect match.”
There is only one question: how to pronounce Götene?
It’s Yeur-te-neh, says Månsson. Prospective residents may want to add Swedish lessons to the budget list.