Villas in Sicily sold for one euro

Villas in Sicily selling for just one euro, so what's the catch?

Villas in Sicily with stunning views over the Mediterranean are being sold for just one euro.

If you thought the housing market in the UK was in dire straits, the Italian island is proof that things can still get a whole lot worse.

However, if our excuse for a summer is getting you down, then snapping up a holiday residence in Sicily will set you back the price of two pints of milk.

Your neighbours on the island could be celebrities from Genesis singer Peter Gabriel to football heads like Massimo Moratti.

The catch? You have two years to restore the homes, which were abandoned after an earthquake 40 years ago. The mayor who came up with the initiative, Vittorio Sgarbi, hopes to attract buyers who have 'both the aesthetic sensitivity and the economic resources to take part in this adventure'.

However before you get grand illusions of owning property abroad, prospective property owners must meet the standards laid down by the council and respect the original character of the building.

And there is, of course, the small matter of Mount Etna looming in the distance – the culprit for the original buildings' disrepair.

Peter Glidewell, an art dealer and critic, who was born in Rome and is the Mayor's adviser on the environment, said: 'We know these houses are perfectly capable of being salvaged.

'They have to be adapted to the exigencies of the modern world while maintaining the colours, forms and appearances of their time.'