Changes in gov't mortgage subsidy program

A parliamentary subcommittee has approved a draft resolution submitted by the government to include apartments from the secondary market in the mortgage subsidy program Apartments for the Youth (Mieszkanie dla Młodych). Currently, young Poles under 35 can have part of their mortgage financed by the government only if they buy an apartment in a newly constructed building or a new house. Earlier in March, the government had decided that families with two children can receive a subsidy of 20 percent of the mortgage value, compared with 15 percent before, while families with minimum three children can get a financial contribution of 30 percent of the mortgage value, an increase of 15 percentage points. In the latter case, the government also canceled the requirement that the subsidized apartment be the first one owned by the family. The government had also increased the limit of total apartment space eligible for the program to 65 sqm from 50 sqm. The Apartments for the Youth program was launched in 2014 and replaced the "Family on its Own" mortgage subsidy program, which expired at the end of 2012.