State approves first subsidy for home protection

The first state subsidy for the protection of a borrower’s primary residence was approved on Wednesday, four months after he submitted his application.

The slow procedures required for the submission of applications and the approval of subsidy arrangements are testing the efficiency of the platform that had been created with great expectations to assist troubled households hoping to protect their homes.

The low efficiency of the platform at the Special Secretariat for Private Debt Management is confirmed by the small number of applications submitted to date, despite the high number of visitors to the platform. From July 1 to October 13, 38,876 borrowers entered the platform and consented to having their bank and tax secrecy lifted; 26,197 borrowers have started filling out an application but only 140 have been submitted. Banks have made 17 settlement proposals and borrowers have only accepted seven, the first of which has just received state subsidy approval.

The Finance Ministry announced that the subsidy amounts to 40 percent of the monthly tranche due, and was granted for a loan of about 80,000 euros, secured against a primary residence.