Greek island to pay families £450 a month to live there

There are just 24 people living on Antikythera

A lighthouse on the southern coast of Antikythera island (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A Greek island will pay families €500 (£450) a month if they go and live there in an effort to combat its dwindling population.

The island of Antikythera, located between Crete and Kythira in the Mediterranean, has just 24 permanent residents, which swells slightly during the summer months.

The island’s defacto tourism website calls it: “One of the tiniest, non-modernised, inhabited Greek Islands.” It adds that there is “limited food shopping” and “limited resources” on the island – but also “unlimited relaxation”.

A 45-minute flight from Athens, Antikythera is just 20 square miles big with only a handful of places to stay, including one apartment available on Airbnb.

The scheme is being run by the local council.

Mayor of the island Andreas Charchalakis told Greek website iefimerida.gr: “Our place is very beautiful and difficult during the winter months.

“We are looking for many families to revive our island.”

He added: “A few days ago, three small children settled in Antikythira with their parents, who were from the island and the place was alive.

We need three young families, large enough to make Antikythira live and full of children’s voices.”

The notion of villages with faltering populations paying people to live there isn’t new.

Earlier this year, a clutch of Italian villages joined a scheme to sell houses in need of renovation for just €1, including Zungoli in the Campania region of southern Italy and Mussomeli in Sicily.

The idea is to revitalise unloved Italian villages and encourage residents back following an exodus to urban areas.