The Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission has approved the Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing Loans concluded from January 1, 2022, until December 31, 2023, concerning the purchase or construction of primary residences for households with an annual income of €50,000.
During the briefing of the media by Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis, it was stated that the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission has approved the Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing Loans concluded from January 1, 2022, until December 31, 2023, concerning the purchase or construction of primary residences for households with an annual income of €50,000.
The Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission judged that the said Scheme does not contain any element of state aid, either to the credit institutions participating or to the individuals who are the final beneficiaries, and therefore can be implemented.
Mr. Letymbiotis noted that the necessary positive response from the Directorate-General for Competition opens the way for the implementation of this very significant Scheme that will provide relief to the beneficiaries. The adoption of targeted, substantive measures to support households is at the heart of government policies.
The Ministry of Finance is proceeding immediately with the next stages of implementing the Scheme, which include informing credit institutions, signing relevant cooperation agreements, determining the procedure for examining and approving applications, and implementing it as soon as possible.
The Scheme will have an annual budgetary cost estimated at €20 million, and the subsidy will cover a period of 2 years, amounting to 50% of the increase in the interest rate between the loan agreement date and the subsidy payment date, with a maximum subsidy rate of 2 percentage points.
It is reminded that beneficiaries of the Scheme are households with an annual family income of up to €50,000 who have taken out a housing loan of up to €400,000 during the period from 1/1/2022 to 12/31/2023, provided that the loan is being serviced.