Soufli: a village builds a house for a couple

Residents of mountain villages around Soufli gather every weekend to build a house with their own hands, which they intend to give to a young couple. The single condition attached to the gift is that the couple settle permanently in the area. The effort, which is taking place in the area of Mikro Dereio, involves people who travel as much as forty kilometres from neighbouring settlements, contributing labour, materials or transport.

This is not an isolated gesture. According to the deputy mayor of Soufli, Dimitris Ntarousis, a house was handed over to another family in the past on the same basis. The aim is clear and openly stated: to hold on to population in a border area of Evros that has suffered sharp demographic decline over recent decades. The deputy mayor described the initiative as “an example to be followed” by other communities with similar problems.

The mountain villages of Soufli lie at the north-eastern edge of the country, in an area where the distance from urban centres, limited access to health and education services and the lack of jobs have driven steady internal migration. The availability of housing is often the first practical obstacle for those thinking of returning or settling, since many properties are either derelict or tied up in unresolved inheritance matters. Initiatives of this kind, relying on collective labour and donated materials, bypass the cost of buying or renovating, which in other circumstances would be prohibitive.

The venture does not substitute for institutional policy on demographics, but it records something that policymakers increasingly acknowledge: that whether young families stay in the regions depends on a combination of housing, income and services, and that the local community can cover part of that equation. For Soufli, as for other border areas, the question remains whether new residents can find sustainable work on the spot. No timetable for completing the work has been announced, nor how the couple who will receive the house will be chosen.