A new scheme is being offered to families and young people who are willing to move to the Scottish islands, in a bid to reduce depopulation.

The Scottish government will offer the £50,000 (approximately $87,000 Australian) in bonds to 100 people, costing more than £5million.

Many of the 93 Scottish islands are often voted some of the most beautiful in the world, including Orkney and the Isle of Skye.

And potential families have already started applying, with one family from South America expressing interest.

SNP MSP for the Western Isles Alasdair Allan told the Times: “Anything we can do to reverse depopulation trends should be encouraged.”

He said the bonds would be used to help people to “buy homes, start businesses and otherwise make their lives here for the long-term”.

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The “golden welcomes” has divided opinion, however.

Rural affairs and islands minister Mairi Gougeon has said it was a “positive step” to helping the islands.

However, Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur said they were like “gimmicks” and the money should be spent improving transport and housing instead.

The first handouts will be offered by the summer.

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It’s not the first time an island has paid people to move to it. In 2019, an island in Greece was offering to pay people £450 a month to live there.

In 2020, Sicily put forward a plan to pay for up to half of tourists’ flight costs and some accommodation costs in order to boost their all-important tourism industry.

And last year, an island in Cornwall was paying people to move to it, as long as they didn’t mind cooking and cleaning.

Here are some of the other places around the world which will pay you to move there.

This article originally appeared on TheSun.co.uk. It has been reproduced here with permission.

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