Located in a beautiful part of Sweden on the southern shore of Lake Vänern, Götene municipality has a lot going for it.

But it is struggling with an ageing population and low birth figures.

The housing market in Götene, as far as new-builds are concerned, has been slow since the economic downturn, mayor Johan Månsson told The Local.

The new campaign, which allows buyers to pay just one krona per square metre of land, is an attempt to give it a nudge in the right direction.

“It costs a lot of money to build a house, and the price of land isn’t the be all and end all, but it’s an important part of that,” Månsson said.

“If this campaign means that a family, for example, has the courage to build a house here despite the current economic situation, that would be fantastic.”

Interest rates are starting to drop in Sweden, but despite this, families are still being cautious when it comes to the property market.

“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary solutions, like this campaign,” he said.

The campaign has been in place for roughly one month.

“I can’t describe it as anything other than a success,” Månsson said, adding that estate agents responsible for selling the plots of land have seen a lot of interest, despite the fact that some of the plots in question had already been on the market for a long time – up to 40 years in some cases.

“Some of these plots have been on sale for many years, often many decades, as they’ve more or less been forgotten about.”

He added that they have had almost 20 expressions of interest, selling three plots in the last month or so.

“We’ve really succeeded. If just one family moves here, then we’ve recouped the cost of this campaign many times over. Every new taxpayer is an important economic asset for a small municipality like Götene.”

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Far from all the municipality’s plots are for sale, rather those included in this campaign are what Månsson refers to as strötomter, single plots which are scattered all over the municipality and are primarily located in built-up areas.

“They’re not whole housing estates or plots on new housing estates,” he said. “Most of them are in smaller areas where there hasn’t been a great deal built in recent decades.”

You can take a look at available plots in Götene municipality here, with many selling at a 98 or 99 percent discount. Scroll down and click on Tryck här för att se aktuella tomter i…, with plots of land divided up by town or settlement.

Götene municipality is a popular area for tourists from Sweden and elsewhere, and there are no barriers for foreigners interested in moving to the area.

“Absolutely anyone is welcome to buy one of the plots,” Månsson said. “There are no rules or requirements as to who is allowed to buy one. It would be absolutely fantastic if we could get people from abroad interested in buying plots here, too.”

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The only requirement for interested buyers is that they must begin construction on their plot within two years of the purchase date, otherwise it will be given back to the municipality.

The campaign will be running throughout 2024 and 2025, Månsson said.

“After that it probably won’t be continued, as the economy will most likely go back to normal. But, of course, we’ll discuss that in the future.”

Götene isn’t the first municipality to offer plots of land at such a discount.

Hylte municipality, around three hours to the south, launched a similar campaign earlier this year, offering 54 plots of land for just one kronor per square metre.

Hylte, like Götene, is a small municipality in need of new residents. Ronny Löfquist, chairman of Hylte municipality, described their campaign to public broadcaster SVT as a “great success”.