Conditions for state support in housing construction and lending have been changed in Belarus
June 2, 2025
Approaches to housing construction and lending procedures have been improved in the country. This is stipulated by Presidential Decrees No. 95 "On State Support in Housing Construction" and No. 94 "On Amendments to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus" dated March 6, 2025, according to BELTA.
Decree No. 95 "On State Support in 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 maintained at the current level. The categories eligible for it (all civilian and military personnel) and the procedures and conditions for its provision remain unchanged.
The decree provides for three forms of state support in 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 order (21 categories of citizens), one-time subsidies for housing construction or acquisition (17 categories of citizens), and state financial assistance in repaying debt on preferential loans (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 order (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 the purchase of housing both on the primary market (built under state order) and on the secondary market.
Decree No. 94 sets out in a new edition Decree of May 8, 2013 No. 215, which introduced the mechanism of state order for housing construction. The essence of the state order is that residential buildings are erected by state customers (Executive Committees 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 house is commissioned and sale and purchase agreements are concluded with citizens, the debt on preferential loans is reissued to citizens.
The Decree provides for the possibility of constructing part of the apartments in a multi-apartment residential building under a state order and part of the apartments at the expense of the budget for provision to citizens as rental and social housing. Among the innovations is also the sale of housing built under a state order to all citizens registered as needing housing improvement (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.