Orbán: Why young Hungarians should stop renting and take HUF 50 million instead

Young Hungarians who take out subsidised loans in the Home Start Programme for first-time home buyers could save tens of thousands of forints a month compared to renting, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a weekly interview with public radio on Friday.

Orbán said young Hungarians who needed to cover the cost of their own housing would be prudent to take out the 3pc fixed-rate loans rather than paying for a rental as the repayments would build their wealth.

He added that the forint credit was secure, unlike the high-risk FX loans that banks and the Gyurcsany government had “tricked” people into taking out years earlier.

Addressing the economic impact of the scheme, Orbán said the construction of 10,000 homes could boost GDP by 1pc, according to conservative estimates, adding that new home builds could easily reach an annual 30,000-50,000. He noted that the Home Start Programme credit was available for resale and new homes alike.

The credit, up to HUF 50m (EUR 125,000), is available to all first-time home buyers, regardless of age or family status. The price of homes eligible for the scheme has been limited to HUF 100m for multidwelling units and HUF 150m for detached homes. Borrowers must make a down payment of 10pc.

Orbán: ‘Brussels wants to sweep issue of ethnic Hungarian forced conscription victim off the table’

The bureaucrats in Brussels “want to sweep the issue of a Hungarian victim who died during forced conscription in Ukraine off the table” because it goes against everything they say about Ukraine’s level of preparedness for EU membership, the prime minister said on Friday.

“We are not saying in Brussels that there is a Hungarian issue here, but that there is a European issue that has been sensed not only by Hungary because one of its citizens has been beaten to death by Ukrainians during forced conscription, but it is a European problem that others have sensed, too,” Viktor Orbán told public radio.

“It is an organisation from Strasbourg that has collected the relevant information and issued a comprehensive evaluation that states precisely the same thing as the Hungarian government,” he said. There were not only individual cases but a general practice, he added.

“In reality there is a manhunt under way,” Orbán said. “They call it conscription, forced conscription, but what happens is that people in charge of conscription hunt for those that they think can be immediately drafted into the Ukrainian army. If it does not go smoothly, they will do it by force.”

Orbán said the brutality was “embarrassing for the bureaucrats in Brussels”. “All they say in Brussels is that Ukraine has made great advances in the areas of human rights, administration of justice and the fight against corruption,” he said. “What they see is that Ukraine is not only ready but beyond ready for European Union membership. Which has nothing to do with reality, if someone knows Ukraine because they happen to be a neighbour.”