Government publishes final conditions of home purchase subsidies

Budapest, February 11 (MTI) – Hungary’s government published final conditions for recently-launched home purchase subsidies for families in the official gazette Magyar Kozlony on Wednesday.

The conditions are outlined in two decrees: one for the purchase of new homes and the other for resale homes. The decree for new homes grants 600,000 forints (EUR 1,929) to families with a single child for purchases. Families with two children are eligible for 2.6 million forints and families with three children for 10 million forints (EUR 32,100).

There is no limit on the value of the home purchased.

The subsidies are available to spouses, young married couples or couples in civil partnerships with children. Couples that commit to having children are also eligible for the subsidies, as long as they are married and one member is under the age of 40 at the time of application.

Commitments to have children are limited to three for couples with no children, two for couples with one child and one for couples with two children. Couples have four years to fulfill their commitment to have one child, eight to have two children and ten to have three. The commitments may be met with adoption, too, and children from previous relationships of the applicants are also eligible.

The subsidies may be used for the purchase of homes which were completed on or after July 1, 2008 or for which a building permit was issued on or after that date.

Homes purchased with the subsidies must be at least 40sqm in the case of families with a single child, 50sqm for families with two children and 60sqm for families with three children. The thresholds are higher — 70sqm for a single child, 80sqm for two and 90sqm for three — in the case of single-family detached homes.

Families that are awarded the subsidies must live in the homes they purchase for a period of ten years, with certain exceptions. The subsidies are limited to homes built by companies for sale to natural persons; however, the decree allows Hungarians who build their own homes to reclaim VAT on the investment up to 5 million forints. Applications for the VAT refund may be made on invoices issued after January 1, 2015 on a single occasion until the end of 2019. The refunds are available for flats up to 150sqm and detached single-family homes up to 300sqm.

Additionally, the decree establishes a subsidised 3 percent interest subsidy on home loans up to 10 million forints for families with three or more children.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters