Applications closed: here is how many subsidised loans have been approved so far and at what interest rates

In the sixth call for applications, the Agency for Legal Transactions and Brokerage in Real Estate (APN) received a total of 4.739 applications for housing loan subsidies, the responsible ministry reported on Saturday, after the submission of applications closed yesterday.

The submission of applications for housing loan subsidies began on 29 March and closed yesterday, 14 May, and the 4.739 applications received are the highest number in all six calls held so far.

Applications will be reviewed in the order in which they were received by APN and approved until the planned funds, which amount to HRK 50 million for this year, are exhausted.

However, given the record level of interest, Darko Horvat, Minister of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets, said that if the amount planned for this call of HRK 50 million proves insufficient, additional funds will be provided so that everyone who applied and meets the requirements will also receive the state subsidy.

Horvat also stated that young families have recognised this Government measure as a good one, and that its success is best shown by the fact that over the four years of its implementation more than 17.500 subsidised loans have been approved in total, while in the same period more than three thousand children were born, so this is also a demographic measure.

2.066 applications approved so far, 620 of them in the City of Zagreb

APN has so far processed 2.134 applications, of which 2.066 were approved, five applications were rejected, three applicants withdrew, and additional documentation has currently been requested for 60 applications.

In a sample of 2.134 applications processed so far, the average amount of a subsidised loan is EUR 76.000 and the average repayment period is 22 years.

The average age of subsidised loan beneficiaries is 33 years, and the monthly instalment they repay is EUR 390 or HRK 2.920, of which the monthly subsidy amounts to EUR 129 or HRK 970, the Ministry stated in a press release.

Of the 2.066 approved applications, 1.379 relate to the purchase of an apartment, 480 to the purchase of a house, and 207 to the construction of a house.

The largest number of approved applications, 620, is in the City of Zagreb, of which 564 are for the purchase of an apartment, 43 for the purchase of a house, and 13 for the construction of a house. Zagreb County follows with 174 approved applications, then Osijek-Baranja County with 172. Split-Dalmatia County accounts for 169 approved applications, of which 145 are for the purchase of an apartment, while 117 applications were approved for residents of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, of which 103 are for the purchase of an apartment.

After Zagreb, the city with the most approved subsidies, 100, is Osijek, followed by Split with 77 and Rijeka with 68.

At the other end, the fewest applications, 14, are in Lika-Senj County, of which ten are for the purchase of an apartment and four for the purchase of a house. Dubrovnik-Neretva County follows with 15 approved applications – ten for the purchase of an apartment, three for the purchase of a house, and two for the construction of a house.

Banks' effective interest rates from 2,09 percent to 3,50 percent

As a reminder, on 26 February APN signed agreements with 14 banks on granting subsidised housing loans, with the highest effective interest rates offered by the banks ranging from 2,09 to 3,50 percent for loans in kuna, and from 2,15 to 3,50 percent for loans in euros.

As already known from previous calls for applications, all citizens under 45 years of age who do not own an apartment or house were eligible to apply. The loan subsidy is granted for the purchase of an apartment or house, or the construction of a house, up to a maximum of 1500 euros per square metre, or up to a maximum loan amount of 100.000 euros in the kuna equivalent. The loan repayment period must not be shorter than 15 years. The amount of the subsidy depends on the development index of the area where the property is being bought or built, and ranges from 30 to 51 percent of the loan instalment.

Incidentally, at the end of last year the Croatian Parliament amended the Act on Housing Loan Subsidies, extending until the end of 2023 the period in which APN (the Agency for Transactions and Mediation in Immovable Properties) will publish public calls for subsidies.

The amendments also stipulate that applicants for these loans must have their registered residence at the address of the purchased or built property for at least two years after the loan subsidy ends. They also provide that subsidies will be refused to applicants who have already received them before, and that the funds paid out will not have to be repaid if the subsidised apartment or house is sold in order to buy a larger apartment or house, or to build a house.