Armenian government approves program for providing housing to  families from Artsakh; expenses estimated at  AMD 10-12 billion 

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.