15:422 Today in Latvia NBS soldiers will be able to receive support for the purchase of housing

The Ministry of Defense and ALTUM mutually agreed to provide guarantees for bank loans to NBS soldiers to pay the first installment to buy or build a house. Swedbank will be the first bank to start providing state-guaranteed loans. In the near future, other banks working with ALTUM guarantee programs will also join the program. Customers are invited to get information at their bank.

Under the support program, NBS soldiers will have access to loans for the purchase of real estate up to 250,000 Euros with a guarantee period of up to 10 years. On the other hand, the amount of collateral is up to 25% of the principal amount of the loan – up to EUR 20,000. If three years have passed since the expiry of the previous warranty and obligations, the warranty can be obtained again.

“Soldiers’ salary is the sum of the basic salary and various compensations, so until now soldiers have generally refused to take out mortgage loans from banks. Thanks to the new ALTUM program, soldiers will have equal opportunities to get loans to buy houses,” said Jānis Eglīts, parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Defense. said.

“ALTUM has provided support to residents in purchasing homes many times before. We guarantee down payment financing for families with children and young professionals, and we also provide down payment support grants for large families “Balsts”. This time it will be the fourth support program in cooperation with banks and this Support for previous programs is important – under the new agreements, more than half of bank loans for housing were given with government support, namely ALTUM guarantees,” emphasizes Jana Logina, head of ALTUM housing guarantees.

Borrowers who want to get an ALTUM housing loan should apply to one of the banks with which ALTUM has a cooperation agreement. After receiving the application, the bank will make sure that the borrower meets the conditions for obtaining collateral, evaluate the application and decide on the attachment of the collateral. The bank will also prepare and submit the ALTUM collateral application.

ALTUM will evaluate the application within 5 working days after receiving the application and decide whether to provide a guarantee or not. ALTUM will send a notification to the bank regarding the decision. After the payment of the invoice issued by ALTUM and the receipt of the loan agreement from the bank, ALTUM will provide a guarantee to the credit institution for the housing loan extended to the borrower and will receive a loan from the bank for the purchase or construction of housing. paid to the debtor. The process is organized in such a way that soldiers do not need to go to ALTUM to present documents.

This is already the fourth ALTUM support program for housing purchase or construction. Guarantees have been given to families with children since 2015 and to young specialists since 2018.

To date, ALTUM has given 4,158 bails worth EUR 33 million to young specialists, making it possible to obtain bank loans with ALTUM bail of EUR 280 million. While 85.2% of the guarantees given were taken by young experts in Riga and Pieriga, 5.1% in Zemgale, 4.7% in Kurzeme, 3.3% in Vidzeme and 1.7% in Latgale.

It also vouched for 24,000 families with 35,000 children. The amount of the guarantee is 190 million Euros. Families with children also used the support most actively in Riga and Pieriga (77.9%). 7.5% of the sureties were given in Kurzeme, 7.3% in Zemgale, 4.7% in Vidzeme and 2.6% in Latgale.

ALTUM also provides families with multiple children (the family has at least 3 children or at least 2 children and a third is expected) a one-time “Balsts” subsidy to reduce the down payment of a bank loan for purchase or construction. a house. So far, 920 subsidies totaling EUR 7.6 million have been paid, enabling borrowers to obtain bank loans of EUR 76.5 million.

The demand for home purchase guarantees is stable, only slightly increased in 2021, which can be explained by the expansion of the conditions for receiving (increased maximum amount, you can apply during pregnancy, you can apply again, etc.). Families with children and young professionals continue to buy homes, despite rising energy prices and rising construction costs, and the war in Ukraine, which provokes instability and calls for caution with large purchases. Guarantees of approximately 3.3 – 3.8 million Euros are given each month.