New procedure for housing subsidies for families in the regions: if the Seimas approves, the amount of individual construction would not be financed and would decrease – MadeinVilnius.lt

A new procedure is being prepared in the Seimas, according to which subsidies will be given to young families who want to buy housing in the regions. A final vote remains on the amendments.

Parliamentarians on Tuesday approved (55 in favor, 19 against, and 23 abstentions) the new rules for the distribution of support.

They provide that families will continue to be able to purchase housing with state support in the municipalities around the cities of Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda – they could purchase housing in the districts of Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, if its value did not exceed the average value of housing in an apartment building in a specific municipality.

According to the new procedure, the subsidy would reach 7.5 percent. home loan amounts (up to 87 thousand euros), and its maximum value is 120 thousand. euros. Until now, it has not been limited. It is also intended to oblige families who received the subsidy to to declare residence in the purchased apartment for five years.

However, the Seimas did not support the proposal to link the amount of the subsidy to the number of children – it was proposed to leave the current procedure, according to which the subsidy would reach 20-30 percent. depending on the number of children.

Mindaugas Lingė, chairman of the budget and finance committee, said that according to the new procedure, more families would receive subsidies.

Linas Kukuraitis, the representative of the Democratic faction “Vardan Lietuvos” claimed that according to the new conditions, the maximum amount of the incentive will reach 6.5 thousand. euros instead of approximately 15 thousand euros.

“The average support will reach 4.5 thousand euros. More is given (support – BNS) for an electric car,” said the MP.

“There is no housing, regional, or family policy here,” he added.

“Valstietė” Goda Burokienė regretted that the new order will not improve either the demographic situation or the situation in the regions, while the social democrat Algirdas Sysas assured that the support has so far been received by “richer families and not at all in the regions”.

In addition, the amendments suggest that young families should no longer be allowed to build their own apartments, and only already built apartments could be purchased.

While considering the proposals of the parliamentarians, the Seimas approved the only initiative of a group of parliamentarians from the opposition, preventing the destruction of the queue of families waiting for subsidies, which the Ministry of Social Security and Labor proposed to abandon.

The amendment provides that families would be entered into a list based on the date of registration of applications for subsidies, but applications for support would be submitted only after the ministry allocated funds for subsidies.

This year, 8 million was allocated from the budget for such support. euros, but all the funds planned for 2024 have already been distributed. About a thousand families are on the waiting list for support.

The author is Sniegė Balčiūnaitė

Editor Roma Pakėnienė