1,001 winners for soft loans announced by the Municipality, the list goes to the Municipal Council for approval

The Municipality of Tirana has announced 1,001 winners from the applications of the social program "For the subsidization of loan interests".

The list of successful applicants, who will have their loan interest subsidized from the state budget for the purchase of an apartment in Tirana, has been submitted for approval at the June 10th meeting of the Municipal Council, but is not yet public.

The loan interest subsidy program, which has been implemented for several years, aims to reduce the financial burden on low-income individuals and families by subsidizing part of the interest rate on home loans from state budget funds. While the beneficiaries will repay the loan by the end of the repayment period with 3% interest.

"1,001 (one thousand and one) individual/family application files have resulted with regular documentation, in accordance with the provisions of Annexes no. 1 and 3 attached and an integral part of decision no. 103 dated 08.10.2024, of the Municipal Council, "On the approval of the scoring system, the minimum and maximum income level and the documentation that individuals/families must complete to be treated with the subsidy program for families benefiting from facilitated loans from the state", is stipulated in the draft decision "On the approval of families benefiting from the social program "Loan interest subsidy" financed with state budget funds, in the municipality of Tirana".

The announcement of the winners took place in two phases. A total of 2,337 individuals applied for the program, with around 42% of them selected who completed the documentation required by the program for loan interest subsidy, as well as the allowed monthly income limit.

The program gives priority to young families, young people under 40 years old, and single-parent families with children.

After the approval of the list by the Municipal Council, the winners must appear at the second-tier bank with which the Municipality of Tirana has signed an agreement in order to obtain a soft loan to finance the purchase of the house. However, the winners have only 18 months to find the house.

"The maximum deadline for completing the loan application procedures is 18 (eighteen) months from the date of registration of the list of names with the institution that monitors the loan interest subsidy," the draft decision states.

Notwithstanding the provisions set forth above, in cases where the individual or family has not yet found housing, they shall notify the financial institution and the institution that monitors the loan subsidy via e-mail every 6 (six) months, through the government portal "e-Albania", of their interest and inability to find housing. Failure to send this information every 6 months will constitute grounds for their disqualification.

Whereas individuals or families who have not been declared beneficiaries of the social program "Loan interest subsidy", have the right to file an administrative complaint with the Mayor, within 5 working days from the moment of the public announcement of the list of beneficiaries. The complaint must be filed with the offices of the Municipality of Tirana and forwarded to the General Directorate of Legal Affairs, Assets and Licensing, which together with the complainant's file presents it to the Mayor, who within 7 working days issues a decision regarding the complaint submitted by the complainant.

Through the home loan subsidy program, beneficiaries receive loans in different amounts, based on the number of members. The minimum loan amount starts from 5.5 million lekë for 1 person. For 2 people, for a 1+1 apartment structure, the financing value is 6.8 million lekë. For a 2+1 entrance, 10 million lekë is paid, and for a 3+1 apartment for a family of over 5 members, 12.4 million lekë is paid.

The selection of the winners took place in 2 stages.

The draft decision explains that in the first phase, 2,337 applications were announced as winners, while 954 applications did not pass the established criteria.

The first phase consists of submitting the application of each applicant/family, through the government portal "e-Albania" (Phase 1), within 30 calendar days from the public announcement of the opening of the call, by selecting the service "Request to benefit from social housing programs."

All citizens declared winners had to complete and submit the housing form electronically on the e-Albania portal, attaching the required documentation.

The documents should be submitted from February 4 to March 4, 2025, to the Information and Citizen Services Sector at the Municipality of Tirana, or by mail, to the official address of the Municipality of Tirana.

At the end of the relevant deadlines of the second phase (from 04.02.2025 to 04.03.2025), a total of 1884 applications were administered and reviewed, of which 817 files were disqualified due to lack and/or problematic documentation.

Also, the Directorate of Social Programs and Housing Monitoring has selected 1067 applications as regular, which have been forwarded for further review to the Housing Commission established by decision no. 11, dated 05.02.2020, as amended, of the Municipal Council, attaching the inventory list containing data on all documentation submitted by the applicants.

Further, the Housing Commission has ranked, according to the scoring formula, the list of individuals/families who result with regular documentation according to the legal framework in force.

At the end of the review of the documentation, this committee reviewed a total of 1067 (one thousand sixty-seven) applications, from which the following results emerge:

The total number of disqualified files is 66 (sixty-six), as follows:

– 50 (forty-nine) applicants with irregular documentation or who do not meet the conditions provided for in decision no. 103 dated 08.10.2024, of the Municipal Council “On the approval of the scoring system, minimum and maximum income levels and documentation that individuals/families must complete to be treated with the subsidy program for families benefiting from subsidized loans from the state”

– 15 (fifteen) Applications result in family income above the limit set in the public notice by letter no. 47528 prot., dated 12.12.2024.

– 1 (one) Application resulted below the income limit, determined in the public notice by letter no. 47528 prot., dated 12.12.2024.

Number of files that have regular documentation in accordance with Annex no. 1 and 3 of decision 103/2024 of the Municipal Council as well as the public notice by letter no. 47528 prot., dated 12.12.2024.

– 1001 (one thousand and one) individual/family application files have resulted with regular documentation, in accordance with the provisions of Annexes no. 1 and 3 attached and an integral part of decision no. 103 dated 08.10.2024, of the Municipal Council, “On the approval of the scoring system, minimum and maximum income levels and documentation that individuals/families must complete to be treated with the subsidy program for families benefiting from state-facilitated loans”, as well as the public announcement by letter no. 47528 prot., dated 12.12.2024./monitor