- Published: 09.04.2020.
Minister says money for housing loan subsidies not in question
(Hina) - Construction and Physical Planning Minister Predrag Štromar said on Thursday that this year housing loan subsidies would require around HRK 15 million and that the money for that purpose had been secured. Speaking to reporters after a government session, Štromar said that funds for housing loan instalments were subsidised for a period of five, seven or nine years, depending on the number of children a family has.
The current average housing loan instalment amounts to around HRK 3,000, plus subsidies in the amount of 30-51%, depending on the development index where the property is bought or built, he said.A new round of applications for housing loan subsidies was invited on March 30, and the Real Estate Agency has so far received 1,360 applications submitted by banks on behalf of their clients.
More than 260 applications have been processed and decisions have been sent to citizens, Štromar said.
The call for applications lasts until the end of April, the minister said.
Asked whether more applications would be invited in September, as previously announced, he said the public would be informed in the coming weeks.
Asked by reporters about cuts in his ministry's budget in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, Štromar said that some of the ministry's programmes would not be implemented in their original scope, that some donations to municipalities and towns would be suspended and that some of the previously planned tenders for services would not be published.
The ministry's budget is small and the ministry must be able to function, he said.
The ministry also works on the issuance of location and building permits, with Stromar saying that it wanted to issue as many such permits as possible to enable investments by the private sector as well as from EU funds.