ArmInfo. On May 16, the Armenian government approved a program to support the providing of housing to families forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh.
As the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Armenia Narek Mkrtchyan stated when presenting the draft decision, the program consists of three components. The first component is the acquisition of an apartment or private house through the issuance of a certificate, the second one is the issuance of a certificate for the construction of a private house, the third one is the repayment of a mortgage loan.
The beneficiaries of the program are families forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh after September 27, 2020, if all family members, including minors, have Armenian citizenship. The area of the purchased apartment must not be less than 12 square meters per family member, and the price of the apartment cannot exceed 55 million drams.
The program will not consider families from Kashatagh (Lachin), as well as families where at least one person owns residential property in Armenia at the time of application.
The project will be financed by partner banks, the amount of support and interest on it will be paid by the Government. If, as a result of issuing a certificate, a positive balance is formed, then there will be an opportunity to direct this positive balance in the following three directions: the purchase of a rural plot of land worth up to 5 million drams. Secondly, if the purchased property requires repairs, it can be repaired for up to 4 million drams, in addition, there is the possibility of purchasing furniture and household appliances for up to 2 million drams.
To build a house, the beneficiary must choose one of the approved standard projects, and only a construction organization licensed in Armenia can build. If the beneficiary does not have a land plot for the construction of a private house, then the authorities will give the opportunity to use up to 3 million drams from the support amount to purchase a land plot, the area of which should not be less than 400 square meters.
The program is terminated if two of the adult family members are under 55 years of age or one of the minors is outside Armenia for more than 183 days during one calendar year (except for cases of studying in a number of educational institutions). In this case, ownership of the property is transferred to the state. The procedure arising from the program will be approved by June 15, and the home purchase assistance component will be in place once the order is approved. The component of the construction of an individual residential house will be in effect from June 15, and e component of repayment of an existing mortgage loanfrom August 1.
The project will be implemented in three stages. At the first stage, families with 3 or more minor children will be included; in the case of building a house, families with 2 minor children.
At the second stage, families with two minors will be included, and in the case of building a house - families with one minor. The program starts no later than January 1, 2026.
At the third stage, families of any composition will be included. The program starts no later than January 1, 2027.
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, in turn, said that if a person currently has a mortgage loan, the government will provide support in the amount of 2 million drams for each family member. "A family of, say, six people will receive 12 million drams to repay the mortgage loan," he explained. Certain restrictions have been introduced on the purchase of apartments in the small center of Yerevan, he added. Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Khachatryan, in turn, said that up to 25 thousand families could become beneficiaries of this program, and the cost of construction/purchase of housing alone would amount to about 500 billion drams. "According to the most conservative estimates, the program's expenses over the next 10-12 years will exceed 700-800 billion drams," he noted.
The deputy head of the government also mentioned that the subsidy for rent and utility payments (40+10 thousand drams) for those displaced from Artsakh will continue to operate at least until the end of the year.
