Justice
Rome's 'Rentopolis' Scandal: City-Owned Apartments for $1 a Year
An official investigation is asking why so many tenants are paying super low rents, but it seems like dysfunction and corruption on a grand scale.
Fancy living in a 1,160-square-foot apartment just around the corner from Rome’s Colosseum? It will only set you back $106 a month—if you’ve got the right connections, that is.
This is just one of the jaw-droppingly low rents on publicly owned apartments uncovered during an investigation in Rome this month, sending a ripple of outrage across a city already used to scandal. Investigating inefficiency and sleaze around the city’s housing offices, Rome’s Prefect Francesco Paolo Tronca has so far uncovered a list of 574 apartments being let out at prices similar to those for a decent dinner.