Azernews.Az

By Nazrin Gadimova

A project on the establishment of housing cooperatives is being developed in Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Youth and Sports said on September 4.

According to the project on building apartments for youths, which capitalizes on the Turkish experience, apartment buildings will be constructed at the state expense and then will be granted to young people with no down payment and interest, i.e. the housing will be actually rented. After a certain period of time these apartments will be owned by their residents.

The main purpose of the project is to provide low- and middle-income citizens with housing.

Payment for these apartments will be on average $70-100 per month.

Citizens are provided mortgage loans through the Azerbaijan Mortgage Fund. According to the terms of mortgage lending through the Azerbaijan Mortgage Fund, the maximum amount of a mortgage is 50,000 manats, which is provided for 25 years at 8 percent per annum. Social mortgage is also equal to 50,000 manats and is issued for 30 years at 4 percent per year. The down payment under a social mortgage is 15 percent and that of a regular mortgage is 20 percent.

According to the mortgage terms, loans must be issued in the national currency, manat, and only to the citizens of Azerbaijan; the subject of a mortgage can only be an apartment or a private house; the amount of the mortgage should not exceed 80 percent of the market value of the property; the monthly payment for a loan must not exceed 70 percent of the monthly income of the borrower; an agreement on life insurance is necessary as well.

Preferable conditions are granted to members of the families of war victims, families of National Heroes of Azerbaijan, internally displaced persons, civil servants with experience of no less than three years, PhD degree holders, people with special achievements in sports, as well as servicemen with experience of no less than three years. Every family, which has the right to a lax mortgage loan, can use it only once.