Many Ukrainians who need their own housing will be able to acquire them without having the money to pay a down payment for a mortgage. Cabinet allowed the State Mortgage Institution (SMI) to lease apartments - lease with the right of redemption. According to officials, this will help solve the housing problems of hundreds of thousands of families. Experts approve of the undertaking, but are afraid that the state will not have enough money to implement it - the apartments must first be redeemed from the developers. WHAT OFFER. As explained to us in the press service of the SMI, while it is only about making changes to their charter and developing a methodology for goslizing. It is expected that the Cabinet will approve it already this year, and the pilot project will start in Kiev. The main advantage of leasing is that the lessee does not have to pay the first installment or deposit. And if he wants to move ahead of time, the monthly payment can be returned to the lessee, minus interest, under the law "On financial leasing". It is planned that the maximum term of leasing will be 20 years, but it can be paid ahead of schedule, saving on interest that will amount to 15.3% per annum. For comparison: interest on mortgages - 20-25% per annum. Calculations show that if you take a lease for 20 years, a two-room apartment at the price of 1 million USD, the monthly fee taking into account interest will be up to 5000 UAH. Since their apartments do not have a SMI, it is planned that they will be bought from developers through the ProZorro procurement system at open tenders. What will allow to buy real estate at an adequate cost due to competition. Less: while only participants in combat operations can rely on leasing, military and state employees. DEVELOPER'S BENEFITS. Construction companies are interested in offering the state, given the low demand in the new housing market. But they doubt that it will revive the market. According to real estate market research, now in the market of new buildings in Kiev accumulated more than 76 500 not sold apartments. Including almost 20 thousand added in the first half of this year, while since April, the pace of sales fell sharply. "Of course, it is interesting and profitable for us to have a large stable buyer on the housing market in the person of the state, as we build houses both for our own funds and for investors' funds. But there are doubts that in the state budget there will be billions of dollars to buy apartments. Also, SMI can understate the price due to the fact that purchases - wholesale. Itself to us to engage in leasing is unprofitable, as too long a period of return of invested money, "- we were told in the press service of a major Kiev construction company. FINANCIAL QUESTION. Specialists of the construction market believe that the main issue - financial. The chairman of the National Council of the Realtors' Chamber of Ukraine Victor Nesin told "Today" that there is not enough money in the budget of the SMI, therefore the leasing program, if approved, will start work not earlier than 2018. And then, with the increase in funding at times. According to official data, the SMI budget in 2016. amounted to 5.2 billion UAH, of which soft loans were granted at 15.3% for 4.2 billion UAH. This is approximately 4,000 apartments, that is, less than 1% of those who need it. "Now 30-40% of the apartments are" freezing "because of a lack of demand and you can not see that the situation has improved, so developers themselves increasingly offer an apartment in installments, but for a short time - 5-7 years," - told us Nesin. Lawyer Vladimir Stolitniy says that for those who need an apartment, but no money for a down payment, leasing is profitable. "There are no risks for the tenant, because the landlord is the state, the accumulative payment system works, in case of early termination of the contract, money, other than interest, can be returned. And the state's goal is to attract money that rotates in the shadow rental market. Moreover, the fee is lower than when renting a home. Therefore, in 2018 the budget of the SMI can be increased at times, "says Stolitniy. But the head of one of the development companies, Oleg Prikhodko, is sure that the goslizing will not work. In his opinion, the state has no money for large-scale construction, and no bank will issue a loan, even under state guarantees, with an unclear return period. After all, this is "long money" with a payback period of investments, at best, up to 10 years. It is impossible to predict the size of rental rates for 10 years ahead.

Original article: Housing for rent with redemption rights: why this will not work.