The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction and Spatial Planning, Predrag Štromar, answered citizens’ questions about subsidizing housing loans for youth during a live broadcast on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
Citizens had numerous questions for Minister Štromar ‘on Facebook’: can singles receive subsidies or only couples, is the construction of a house subsidized, which banks will participate, and many others.
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In response to the question of which banks will participate, he stated that a tender for banks will be announced after the amendment to the law is voted on, which he expects in July. The list of banks will be publicly announced.
When asked if there would be higher interest rates, Štromar replied that there would not be, as the maximum interest rate is prescribed by law and is capped at 3.75 percent. He emphasized that this part of the law is being changed.
“I hope it will be lower than that,” said the minister.
When asked who can apply, he highlighted that anyone under 45 years old can apply…
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The Ministry of Construction and Spatial Planning noted that there were also interesting questions such as ‘do I need to get married to receive a subsidy,’ to which the minister responded: “You do not need to get married; it is sufficient that at the time of application, one of you, the one applying, is under 45 years old.”
The entire conversation can be viewed on Štromar’s official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/stromar.predrag/videos/10155970982349821/.
Minister Štromar invited citizens to continue reaching out with questions.
The Ministry of Construction and Spatial Planning is amending the Law on Subsidizing Housing Loans because, according to Štromar, the existing law stipulated that subsidies were only a one-time measure.
“The goal is for this housing measure to be medium-term, meaning that for the next three years, subsidies for loans for youth will be available every autumn until 2020,” he stated.
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With the proposed amendments to the law, the duration of the subsidies will be extended by another year – from four to five years, and higher subsidies will be provided for less developed, or rural areas depending on the development index. This is, according to Štromar, also a demographic measure as the period of subsidization is further extended by two years for each born or adopted child during the subsidy period.
“The intention is to give young people the opportunity for a permanent housing solution, which is a very important factor in preventing the process of emigration,” emphasized Minister Štromar.
The amendments to the law were sent for public consultation on April 20, and interested parties can participate until May 19, through the eConsultation portal.
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The Ministry emphasizes that so far, through the implementation of the Law on Subsidizing Housing Loans, 2320 applications for loan subsidies have been realized and approved, for which the Republic of Croatia has secured – 17.5 million kuna for 2017, 42 million kuna for 2018, with projections for 2019 and 2020 of 35 million kuna.
They remind that in the last tender, all who applied received subsidies because an additional seven million kuna was secured at the request of the Ministry of Construction and Spatial Planning.
