The draft law was expected by the end of January, but it is still nowhere to be seen.
If you were planning to buy an apartment with government financial assistance, you will have to wait a bit more. Law on subsidizing housing loans, which was proposed in November last year by Construction Minister Lovro Kuščević, has not yet reached the government. However, Construction Ministry is optimistic and still believes that the procedure will be completed by mid-year and that the first subsidized loans will be approved in the second half of the year, reports tportal.hr on March 4, 2017.
Ministry pointed out that the consultation period for the law ended on 12 January and that they had received hundreds of comments which have to be taken into consideration. “After all the comments are reviewed and possibly taken into account, the Ministry will send the draft law to state administration bodies for their opinion. When all opinions are gathered, the final draft of the law will be prepared and submitted to the government procedure. After it is adopted, the government will then send the draft law to Parliament”, explained the Ministry.
According to previous statements made by Kuščević, the law was supposed to reach the government by the end of January, and should have been sent to Parliament in February. However, the law which is eagerly awaited by numerous young families with housing problems has not yet reached the government. “We believe that the required legal procedures will be completed in the first half of the year and that the Law on subsidizing housing loans will come into effect and start to be implemented in the second half of 2017”, said the Ministry.
The proposed law will allow citizens to solve their housing problems under favourable conditions and buy their first or larger apartment or house. The plan is to subsidize the purchase of apartments and houses worth up to 100,000 euros, with the price not exceeding 1,900 euros per square metre. During the first four years, the state would cover 50 percent of instalments for persons under 45 years of age, who are buying their first home or want to buy a larger home due to an increase in the number of family members.
As for the interest rate, it is expected that it would not be higher than 2.95 percent, which should be achieved by public tender. In addition to the basic subsidy, which lasts for the first four years of repayment period, there would be a possibility of extending the subsidies for each new-born or adopted child for additional two years.
According to calculations, savings during the four years would range from 8,260 to 16,500 euros (depending on the loan amount and repayment terms), not counting increases for each newborn or adopted child.
