It was expected that the funds allocated in the budget for the subsidization of housing loans intended for young people would be given to the plan in a few weeks, and that the anticipated quota of 5,500 objections would soon be exhausted. Or, it seems that both potential clients and banks are much more cautious when entering into business offered by the state and that they do not share the optimism with which President Vučić announced his idea.

From mid-March, when this program worth 400 million euros was launched, until the end of June, according to data from the National Bank of Serbia, 1,732 loans were approved from this guarantee scheme, of which 1,361 loans were realized. It is expected that crediting will be slightly faster in the fall. However, not the dynamics that the government wished for when it announced this project aimed at young people, with an emphasis on students who were involved in intense blockades, walkouts and protests during this very period. Therefore, one of Demostats interlocutors suggests that all the answers to questions about subsidized housing loans for young people are found in the testimony of how this project came about.

For those who meet the basic condition that they are citizens of Serbia, that they do not own real estate or that they have owned any in the previous two decades, and that they are between 20 and 35 years of age, it should have been tempting that only one percent of the loan value should be set aside as a down payment for a housing loan, while commercial conditions provide for 10 to 20 percent. The right to take out a housing loan and solve the problem of housing at a young age was granted to employees on indefinite or fixed-term contracts, entrepreneurs, farmers, self-employed artists, as well as students and the unemployed with a creditworthy guarantor.

Many obstacles, few lucky winners

Out of a possible 40 years of repayment, the state guarantees repayment to the bank in the first ten years (in the amount of 40 percent of the loan value) and in the first six it subsidizes the interest, which is fixed at 3.5 percent (of which the state covers two percent), while the monthly installment for the user is around 220 euros. After the expiration of the fixed period, the interest becomes variable, a fixed two percent is added to the value of the six-month Euribor (currently 2.42 percent), and the monthly annuity will be around 330 euros. That part of the project with variable interest and the fact that the repayment can be objected even with a repayment period of up to 40 years, during which many things can change, brings a lot of uncertainty for the users and to some extent for the banks.

The "credits for young people" program involves a lot of paperwork, from proof of the work and property status of the client and potential guarantors (for those who are not in a permanent employment relationship) to data on the real estate, which must be registered, assessed by a licensed appraiser and reduced to a maximum amount of 100,000 euros. This price may be acceptable for smaller areas, while in Belgrade or Novi Sad it is difficult to find an apartment in this price range.

In the whole business of getting a loan, there are many obstacles, which is talked about by the relatively small number of "lucky" winners so far. Since 1.1 million citizens aged between 20 and 35 live in Serbia, only 0.5 percent can count on the possibility of crediting according to the set aside funds, but so far only 0.16 percent, or a third of the expected number, have objected.

But from the banks... silence

It is a fact that the banks are very sensitive to subsidized housing loans for young people. "They formally approve, but it seems that they do it grudgingly, as if they are trying to discourage clients", is the impression of one Demostat interlocutor who tried to inquire about the conditions. Another potential client is of the same opinion. It appears that the employee of one of the banks whose branches he visited a month after the announcement of the program and the adoption of the law, "was extremely kind, she explained in detail what was needed, or she also said in an informal interview that they have some requirements, mainly in Belgrade, while in the interior there is certainly no interest or conditions for the award".

Of the seven banks that joined this project at the time of sending the inquiry (now there are only eight), not one of them answered Demosts questions about how many requests have been submitted so far, how many have been approved, how long it takes to get the loan approved, what documents are required and which papers are the most difficult to obtain