A mortgage loan is not available in Poland. It's the most expensive here

In the summer of 2023, experts from the RynekPierwotny.pl portal prepared a summary of the average interest rate on new housing loans in the EU. This comparison showed that in June last year, Poland had the second highest mortgage interest rate. Only Hungarians paid higher interest. It is worth checking whether half a year later the EU ranking of interest rates on new housing loans looked different.

Mortgages. We pay the most in Europe

The average interest rate on new housing loans in the European Central Bank database was taken into account again. It is worth noting that the results presented in the table below apply to new housing loans with all variants of interest rate changes.

The prepared ranking confirms that in December 2023, Poland still ranked penultimate in the European Union in terms of the average interest rate on new housing loans. Just like half a year earlier, it was more expensive only in Hungary. Some consolation may be the fact that over the last 6 months the average rate on Polish “mortgages” has dropped from 8.59%. to 7.67 percent

It should also be remembered that information from our country does not take into account the low effective interest rate for beneficiaries of the Safe Credit 2% program. Many such people will pay interest at a rate of approximately 2.00% during the first 5 years of the loan, thanks to subsidies. However, the contractual interest rate on preferential loans is currently much higher (usually above 6.90%).

Starter apartment. We don't know much about this program

The successor of the “Safe 2% Loan” is scheduled to be launched in mid-year. It ended very abruptly: although Law and Justice politicians assured that there was no rush and clients did not have to rush to submit the application, in early December the first signals appeared that it would not be continued in 2024. This immediately caused a great stir among clients who, even if they did not plan to purchase the property quickly, decided to submit an application in the belief that there may be no further loan subsidy program.

However, such a program is about to come into force. It will be called Apartment for starters and will be intended for:

• singles under 35 years of age

• people with at least one child

• persons who have not yet owned their own apartment or single-family house (except for holders of a share not exceeding 50% in the ownership right to the apartment or cooperative ownership right to the premises, obtained by inheritance or donation);

• people who own one apartment and have at least three children in their household.

Starter apartment for 4 years

A loan under the program may be used for the purchase of an apartment or house (on the secondary or primary market), the construction of a single-family house or for a housing contribution in a cooperative or participation in the Social Housing Society (TBS)/Social Housing Investment (SIM). What amounts can you apply for? The “Mieszkanie na start” program does not impose any limits on the loan amount. However, subsidies will only be granted up to a specific value of the capital of the loan:

• up to PLN 200,000 – for singles

• up to PLN 400,000 – for households consisting of two people,

• up to PLN 450,000 – for three-person households,

• up to PLN 500,000 – for four-person households,

• up to PLN 600,000 – for five-person households,

• +PLN 100,000 for each additional person in the household.

These are the assumptions that the Ministry of Development talked about a few weeks ago. There is no law regulating the new program yet, so the conditions for granting subsidies may change.

We don't know yet what the program will look like, but the ministry already assures that once it comes into force, there will be no reason to rush, because applications can be submitted for 4 years.

– The start-up loan is to be valid for 4 years – announced Krzysztof Kukucki, Deputy Minister of Development and Technology, during the Meeting of Real Estate Industry Leaders organized by “Rzeczpospolita”.