A decline in the population of a town, Legrad, in northern Croatia prompted the place to sell its abandoned houses for one kuna, or Rs 11.83. The town has also offered to pay for repairing the houses once they are purchased. It comes with conditions that the buyers must be below the age of 40 and must commit to staying in the town for at least 15 years, reported Reuters.

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“We turned into a border town with few transport connections to other places. Since then the population has been gradually falling,” said Ivan Sabolic, the mayor of Legrad. It is located east of Ludbreg and north of Koprivnica, in the county of Koprivnica–Krizevci. It is also near the country’s border with Hungary. It currently has around 2,250 inhabitants. The number was double, 70 years ago.

Legrad once had the second-biggest population in Croatia. But following the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian empire, nearly 100 years ago, new borders emerged, and eventually, the population of the town was affected.

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The town has sold 17 properties so far. The municipality vowed to pay 25,000 kunas for repair works. For the residents buying privately-owned homes, the town promises to cover 20% of the price or up to 35,000 kunas, said the Sabolic. The town also offers employment in food production, metal processing industries and wood processing, for the buyers.

“After some media reports about our action we got enquiries about houses from very distant places like Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Argentina or Colombia“, said Sabolic, reported Reuters.