The new programme, dubbed First Home, was outlined by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at a news conference in Warsaw, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The prime minister said that the scheme offers people up to 45 years of age subsidised mortgages, with the interest rate kept at 2 percent for the mortgage payer for a period of 10 years.
Morawiecki stated: “This scheme joins together the efforts of the state with the individual plans of the prospective first-home buyers and the homes available on the market.”
He added that "the subsidised mortgage offers mainly stability and predictability, thanks to a fixed interest rate of 2 percent.”
Meanwhile, Development and Technology Minister Waldemar Buda said that under a government bill currently going through parliament, people buying their first homes on the second-hand home market would be "exempt from the tax on civil law transactions," the PAP news agency reported.
Buda said: “The bill has passed the Sejm (lower house) and is currently going through the Senate (upper house). After passing parliament, it will go to the president for signature. By the end of August, the bill should be enacted, scrapping this tax.”
Buda also told reporters that after by Monday noon "some 10,000 prospective first-home buyers had already inquired about participation" in the subsidised-mortgage programme, "and some have submitted application forms."
He stated: “This shows that the programme is generating huge interest.”
Meanwhile, the Polish prime minister said that if his ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party remained in power after the parliamentary election in the autumn, the government would seek to “make more land available for home building in every town and village,” by pushing for changes in local land use plans, the PAP news agency reported.
Subsidised mortgages
Under the First Home programme, the government will subsidise mortgages for a period of 10 years to keep the interest rate at 2 percent for the mortgage payer, officials said.
Moreover, there will be no limit to the size of the home that can be bought with the subsidised mortgage, they added.
Meanwhile, mortgages available under the First Home programme will be worth up to PLN 500,000 (EUR 112,750) for one-person households and up to PLN 600,000 (EUR 135,240) for parents, married couples and single parents, according to officials.
Special savings accounts
Under the First Home programme, people up to 45 years of age will also be able to set up a special savings account at a commercial bank to save for their first home, reporters were told.
Those who make payments of between PLN 500 (EUR 112,75) and PLN 2,000 (EUR 451) into the savings account at least 11 times a year, for a period of between three and 10 years, will be eligible for a bonus calculated on the basis of the inflation rate during the savings period, the government said, but they must spend the accumulated sum on buying a home within the next five years.
The bonus will be in addition to the normal commercial interest on the savings account, according to officials.
While the 2-percent mortgage will only be available to first-time buyers, the savings account is also intended for parents with many children who own small dwellings, officials also said.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, gov.pl, prawo.pl