Swiss village planning to pay people over Rs 16 lakh to settle there for life

The Swiss town of Albinen, located in the Valais Valley, one of the many scenic locations in Switzerland - is all set to vote for a policy on November 30 to paying people to live there.

And guess the amount? It’s a whopping 25,000 Swiss Francs, an equivalent of Rs 16.3 lakh.

But why?

The village presently is facing a dwindling population scenario and has just about 240 residents at present. Moreover, the number is going down soon hence it is part of their repopulation initiative, as per a report in Swiss paper The Local.

Under the new scheme, the fee will be paid to each new adult resident with 7,600 Swiss Francs (Rs 4.9 lakh) being paid to each child.

Going by that rate, a family of four moving in should be getting an estimated sum of Rs 45 lakh for just moving in there.

Most of the previous residents who left the village had children and this has led to the closure of a school in the village.

But then again, this wasn’t exactly a “thriving” neighbourhood. Its highest number of inhabitants on record was 380 back in 1900.

… Wait, here is the 'conditions apply' section

The offer sounds too good to be true, and it is actually.

Here's why: First criteria is that the new residents have to be under the age of 45, and it is compulsory for them to build a property there to live full time and this must not be any seasonal or temporary holiday home.

There is another catch too: It better be a good enough house, as the minimum price for it has been set at 2,00,000 Swiss Francs (Rs 1.3 crore).

Also, if one plans to move in, there is a minimum residence period of 10 years, otherwise one must give back the fee.

Officials hope that Albinen's flailing economy will benefit from this move as incoming residents will start paying for building contracts, establishing there and also buy the local produce.

Further, only three percent of the total land in the village is settled area with road and buildings the rest is farmland and forest.