Housing fund will reduce payments or postpone them due to the coronavirus

Prague - The State Housing Development Fund (SFRB) will provide a deferral of repayments or a reduction of installments on preferential loans to all those who have found themselves in a difficult financial situation due to the state of emergency. Karolína Smetanová, the fund's spokesperson, informed ČTK about this today. According to her, this will mainly concern housing loans for young people.

"The measure applies to all programs. Applicants must provide documentation upon request to prove that they have entered this difficult situation as a result of the current measures. We will assess applications individually. We expect that this will mainly concern individuals, especially in the program for housing loans for young people,” Smetanová said.

The average monthly volume of applications for housing loans for young people fell year-on-year to about a quarter last year. It was 148 million crowns two years ago, and 41 million last year. According to the Ministry of Regional Development (MMR), the program is mainly intended for smaller towns and rural areas, fulfilling its role. However, analysts have long warned that the program is unconceptual and burdened by bureaucracy. Young families under 36 can apply for a state loan of up to two million crowns for renovations or to acquire new housing.

The State Housing Development Fund collects money intended for housing support. It manages its own funds and also distributes contributions from the relevant European Union funds. Its goal is to support private and municipal investments in the construction, repair, and modernization of apartments.

The Ministry of Regional Development (MMR) proposes to increase the fund's expenditures for this year by 1.1 billion crowns to 4.12 billion. This is money that remained in the fund from last year. Revenues are set to remain at 1.24 billion crowns. The proposal anticipates that the additional funds will be used for the Construction for Municipalities program, which the government approved last year.

Of the additional funds, 650 million crowns is to go towards the acquisition of social housing, while another 350 million crowns is earmarked for the loan portion of the program for acquiring affordable housing. The remaining 100 million crowns is to be spent on regenerating public spaces in housing estates.

This year, the fund is expected to be renamed the State Investment Support Fund and expand its scope to include sustainable development of municipalities, towns, and regions, as well as tourism. President Miloš Zeman signed the amendment in mid-March. The law will come into effect three months after it is published in the collection.

According to the ministry, the renaming of the fund and the associated expenditures will cost about 880,000 crowns. The costs include, for example, the replacement of forms, stamps, payment orders, or adjustments to the website.