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Manche: cheaper land to attract parents to Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue
How to attract new families to towns that have lost residents? In Manche, in Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, the mayor has decided to offer building plots at knockdown prices and it works.
(France 2)
How to attract new families to towns that have lost residents? In Manche, in Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, the mayor has decided to offer building plots at knockdown prices and it works.
It is still only a wasteland, but Gilbert Doucet is already imagining a new neighborhood. “Here, there will be the subdivision that will be created and a set of family gardens on 1,000m²”explained the mayor of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, in the Manche. He decided to sell five of his plots of land for between 50 and 70 euros per m². A 50% drop compared to the market price, but to benefit from it, certain conditions must be met. In fact, the person or people must make it their main residence and this for the long term since there is a commitment to stay for at least ten years.
Another obligation: buying a property for the first time or working in the town. In Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, one in two houses is a second home. Real estate prices are exploding, forcing young people and families to move further and further away. Three families have already submitted an application to purchase land. Thanks to the land sold off, Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue hopes to attract new residents. In a decade, the village has gone from 2,200 to 1,700 residents.