Village in west France halves housing land prices to attract newcomers

Parcels of land designed for house building are going at half price in a village in western France, after the Mairie cut prices of 11 plots in a bid to attract new residents.

Pierrick Marquet, deputy mayor of Mairé-Levescault, a 530-inhabitant village in Sèvres (Deux-Sèvres), told FranceInfo: “This year, we decided to make the plots €7.50 euros each for first-time buyers.”

The village has struggled to attract outside buyers for the past 10 years, partly due to its lack of industry or jobs, and its geographical isolation (the nearest town is 20km away).

The village is seeking to ensure its resident count stays above 530, “otherwise we will lose state funding”, Mr Marquet said.

It is also hoping to keep the village school open. It currently has 40 pupils, but almost closed last year due to a lack of newcomers. The headmistress is hoping that any new arrivals will have children of school age.

The village is also planning to start building a housing unit with new apartments on the site, in another attempt to encourage first-time buyers to move to Mairé-Levescault.

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