$1-per-week rent aims to lure Aussies to the country

MELBOURNE - About 100 families from across Australia hope their dreams of life in the country will come true after applying to rent a pair of central Victorian farmhouses for A$1 (NZ$1.28) a week each.

A group of residents from Wycheproof, a rural town about three hours northwest of Melbourne, last month invited families to apply to rent two farmhouses for $1 each to help boost enrolments at local schools and sports club.

The project's co-ordinator, Kylie Brown, said about 100 applications had been taken from families around Australia by noon today, the closing date for expressions of interest.

About 25 to 30 families will be short-listed over the next two weeks before two families are selected to make the move to the town, which has a population of about 800, in four to six weeks' time.

Ms Brown said the successful families would be carefully selected on the basis they understood what a move to the country involved and would make an easy transition.

"You have to uproot everything, your job, your children, your house, where you are with your friends and family," she said.

"We have a responsibility to our community here. I think we also have a responsibility to the applicants," she said.

"We know what it's like living in a small community, but for some people, that can be more difficult."

Inspired by similar initiatives in Levendale, Tasmania, and Cumnock, in NSW, two farmhouses will be initially offered at the peppercorn rent in return for renovating the property and contributing to the local community.

There are plans to increase the number of houses to about 10 or 12.

Of those, several would be offered at the low rate of $50 to $100 a week.

"The community is very excited, there's a real buzz about town," Ms Brown said.

"It's a project which has been getting so many different areas of our community together."

She said many locals had offered to donate building materials to help renovate the two farmhouses.

Real estate agents had also been fielding inquiries about buying houses in the area, Ms Brown said.

- AAP