In Belarus, the terms of state support for housing construction and lending have been changed
Approaches to housing construction and lending procedures have been improved in the country. This is stipulated by Presidential Decrees No. 95 "On State Support for Housing Construction" and No. 94 "On Amendments to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus" dated March 6, 2025, BELTA reports.
Decree No. 95 "On State Support for Housing Construction" has been adopted to create a unified regulatory document for providing state support to citizens in improving their housing conditions. It consolidates all existing forms of such support in the country. The amounts of state support are set at the current level. The categories eligible for it (all civil and military personnel) and the procedures and conditions for its provision remain unchanged.
The decree provides for three forms of state support for housing construction or acquisition: preferential loans for the construction of individual residential houses, apartments in semi-detached houses, as well as for the purchase of individual residential houses, apartments in apartment buildings or semi-detached houses built under state orders (21 categories of citizens), one-time subsidies for housing construction or acquisition (17 categories of citizens), and financial assistance from the state in repaying preferential loan debt (for large and young families, upon the birth of children). Certain categories of citizens may be eligible for all forms of state support.
Among the main innovations of the decree are the exclusion of citizens from participating in shared construction and the provision of preferential loans only for the purchase of apartments in apartment buildings built under state orders (while for individual residential houses, lending for construction and purchase remains). Additionally, subsidies for repaying debt and interest on commercial loans for housing construction are being replaced by preferential loans. In settlements with a population of up to 20,000, preferential loans will be provided for housing purchase in both the primary market (built under state orders) and the secondary market.
Decree No. 94 introduces a new version of the decree of May 8, 2013, No. 215, which established the mechanism of state orders for housing construction. The essence of the state order is that residential buildings are erected by state customers (UKS and other state organizations) without involving citizens at the construction stage. A preferential loan for the construction of a residential building is provided to the customer organization. After the building is commissioned and an agreement is concluded
debts on preferential loans are reissued to citizens under sale and purchase agreements with citizens.
The decree provides for the possibility of constructing part of the apartments in an apartment building under state orders and part of the apartments at the expense of the budget for providing citizens with rental and social housing. Among the innovations is also the sale of housing built under state orders to all citizens registered as needing to improve their housing conditions (previously, only those entitled to state support).
All changes came into force on June 1, 2025. State support for residential buildings, the construction of which began before the specified date, will be provided on the previous terms.