Government to launch new home purchase subsidy scheme

The scheme will be available for settlements with populations over 5,000 citizens, Janos Csak said.

The scheme offers a loan of 15 million forints (EUR 38,960) for couples raising one child, 30 million for families with two children and 50 million for those with 3 children, at a 3 percent interest rate, the minister said.

The term of the loan will be between 10 and 25 years, he said, and will be available for families where the mother is younger than 41, he said.

To forestall skyrocketing prices, the government is imposing a price cap on the real estate eligible for home purchase susidies, he said. First homes cannot cost more than 80 million forints, Csak said. For properties purchased to accomodate a growing family, the cap is at 150 million, he added.

Families can apply for a 12-month moratorium after the birth of the first child, and will have 10 million forints deducted from the initial capital after the second and every subsequent child, he said.

Since its launch in 2015, some 233,000 families have applied and received home purchase subsidies, and the government has spent 754 billion forints on the scheme, he said.