Preferential loans for housing construction in Belarus: features, application rules and reviews

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

“A decent young family will rent inexpensive housing for a long time” - these are the ads that today are full of newspaper pages, Internet sites, poles at public transport stops. It is rare that a family has the opportunity to find apartment happiness at the dawn of its formation. However, rental housing allows you to get the illusion of your home only for a while. Sooner or later, the question still arises of how to get housing.

To be able to build your own house or buy an apartment, you can get a loan to build housing for a young family. This method is not so bad and has its own certain advantages. The main thing is to know what you are en titled to and do everything according to the rules.

By law

Loans for housing construction in Belarus can be obtained by absolutely different categories of the population, including young families. Moreover, many citizens are en titled to significant benefits and concessions when applying for a loan. The main document governing the receipt of preferentialcash loans, is considered the Decree of the President dated 06.01.12 number 13. Its full name is: “On the issues of providing citizens with state support in the construction (reconstruction) and / or acquisition of residential premises.”

Those who decide to read it should know that there is a later version, or rather, Presidential Decree No. 469 dated 11/16/15, which entered into force on 03/01/16. This decree corrects several points of the previous one, so it is better to study it in detail too.

Who is en titled to a soft loan at all

In general, there are several categories of citizens who are en titled to a special loan for housing construction. Those in need of benefits must first register with the relevant authorities. This will make it possible to get into a special queue, consisting of citizens in need of an indispensable improvement in their living conditions.

Priority categories include:

• citizens whose families have disabled people since childhood (only the first and second groups);
• living in houses deemed dilapidated;
• talented young people who are laureates of the President's special fund;
• persons affected by the Chernobyl accident, liquidators;
• employees of state bodies of internal affairs;
• military personnel;
• combat veterans;
• employees of the State Control Committee and the Investigative Committee;
• persons who have been living in a dormitory or a public housing fund for more than 10 years;

Lending to young peoplespecialists

If you are legally considered a young professional, then you can also try to get in line and try to get a soft loan for housing construction. Although you do not have a direct right to receive a soft loan, it is still worth trying. It may turn out that you are suitable for some other indicators. In any case, you must be put on the queue, but the waiting process may be delayed.

Who is considered a young family

According to the new law, a family in which at least one of the spouses is not older than 31 years old by the time of applying for a soft loan can be considered young. At the same time, at least 2 minor children must be brought up in the family, and the marriage must be the first for both spouses.

To receive a soft loan for housing construction for young people, the average income for each individual member must not exceed three times the average monthly minimum SPB (average per capita consumer budget), calculated for a family of 4.

In order to be eligible for benefits, it is necessary that in the available housing for each member of one family there should be no more than 10 m² (for Minsk) or 15 m 2 ^{for other cities. At the same time, none of the spouses can own any housing on the territory of Belarus, and also not act as a tenant when living in non-privatized housing. Simply put, the family must either rent an apartment or live with their parents or other relatives on theirterritory.}

Another interesting point here is that being married doesn't mean you have to queue up together. If one of the spouses was on the waiting list for affordable housing before marriage, then he can continue to wait until his time comes up.

What loan can you count on

Loans for housing construction, provided by the state program, are designed to facilitate the purchase of their own house (apartment) for a young family. For such "cells of society" two types of lending are provided:

• For the construction of new housing. You can calculate the approximate amount as follows: multiply the norm of the total area (20 sq. m / person) by the cost of 1 m 2. Since typical housing is taken as the basis, the final amount will differ sharply from the market value. The loan amount should not exceed 90% of the value of the entire property.
• To buy a finished apartment. This path is chosen when it is not possible to resolve the issue through construction. In this case, the loan amount is calculated as if for construction, and then 70% is taken from this number. This will be the maximum amount you can claim.

You also need to know that families who have taken out loans to build or purchase housing will not be able to fully dispose of their new property until the moment when they fully pay off their debt obligations. This means that housing cannot be sold, donated or exchanged for another. Moreover, no suchactions with housing cannot be performed for another three years after the final payment on the loan.

Financial support for young people

Of course, buying an apartment for a young family, even with benefits, is not so easy. To do this, you need not only to have money for monthly payments for many years, but also immediately deposit 10, or even all 30% of the cost of housing. And what about those who have already taken a loan, and not a preferential one, but a regular one?

For some families who have taken such a loan, a state subsidy is provided. To do this, one of three conditions must be met:

• have one minor child (or give birth after purchasing a home) - assistance will amount to 20 minimum subsistence budgets;
• for two children under the age of majority they give 40 budgets;
• if there are three or more guys, you are en titled to 50 living wage budgets.

The subsidy will be paid only after the state registration of ownership of the apartment (house). So you can't use the money as a down payment. Yes, and you will not see the money live. The amount will be evenly transferred to repay the body of the loan or % on it if the principal debt has already been paid.

Collecting documents

If you still decide to apply for a preferential loan, you should seek advice from Belarusbank. Loans for housing construction there are usually issued with great pleasure. Initially you will need thesedocuments:

• civil passport;
• income certificate;
• document (certificate) on family composition;
• for men under 27 - military ID.

About the documents that will need to be provided additionally, you will be told in detail at the bank.

Loan amounts and area norms

As already mentioned, loans for housing construction still do not cover its full cost and those who want to have their own housing will have to stock up on a down payment. Only families with many children can apply for 100% loans.

The norms of the total area are set as follows:

• 20 m2/person - during the construction of a one-room apartment;
• 30 m2/person - for the construction of a 1-apartment residential building;
• 30 m2/person - during the construction of a one-room apartment, a 1-apartment residential building in a rural area, for citizens who permanently live and work there;
• 44 m2/person - for the construction of a 1-apartment residential building, a 1-room apartment in the countryside for 1 person who permanently lives and works there;

Maturity and interest

The maximum period for which loans for housing construction can be issued does not exceed 20 years, and families with many children will be able to count on twice as long.

Interest for the use of concessional loans are set as follows:

• 1% per annum - for large families;
• 10% of the betrefinancing (but not less than 3% per annum) - for citizens who work and permanently reside in small towns (up to 20 thousand people);
• 20% of the refinancing rate (at least 5% per annum) - for all other categories of beneficiaries;
• 50% refinancing rate of the National Bank, but not less than 5% per annum - for young families and military families.

This, perhaps, is all the nuances of concessional lending to young families, and those who still have questions should still contact legal advice. There you will be given exhaustive explanations on all points and even tell you exactly what additional benefits are right for you.