Housing cooperatives offer apartments through subsidized mortgage program
- Housing cooperatives will offer 59 apartments through the Government's subsidized mortgage program - the Association of housing cooperatives announced.
The Secretary General of that Association, Suzana Jovićević, explained that the housing cooperatives were juristic persons that operated as building companies, and that they had 59 apartments to offer for sale at the moment.
- The only difference between housing cooperatives and companies lies in the fact that cooperatives function according to the Law on Cooperatives, and not in accordance with the Law on Enterprises - says Jovićević.
- We have the same documents and building permits, and we work under the same conditions as building companies.
Jovićević points out that, according to the available data provided by the Association of housing cooperatives, there are total of 59 apartments in Belgrade and the municipality of Mladenovac that can be offered for sale.
- We have eight apartments in Mladenovac that are 80% built, and their price amounts to 600 EUR per square meter. The price of apartments in Borča is 800 EUR per square meter, while the price of our aprtments in Block 63 in New Belgrade amounts to 1,900 EUR per square meter - said Jovićević.
She added that housing cooperatives in Kragujevac had only one apartment at the disposal, and that its price was 1,000 EUR per square meter, while six apartments at the price of 2,600 EUR per square meter were available in the borough of Palilula.
So far, nint banks have signed the contract on approval of new mortgage loans. According to the subsidized mortgage program, the citizens will be able to buy apartments with the state's subvention, on the loan of up to 100,000 EUR, with the repayment period of up to 30 years. All citizens younger than 45 can apply for the loan.
According to her words, housing cooperatives have over 300,000 members, and they function by the principle of association of private persons. Cooperatives are mainly focused on construction of facilities of smaller surface, and the largest number of them operate in Serbia's provinces.
Housing cooperatives are not profitable organizations, and they function by the principle of the costs of operations. Financial plan is made every year, so that the costs for the members of cooperatives are known in advance.
- Usually that cost amounts to up to 10% of total value of the apartment under construction - says Jovićević and adds that houses are mainly built in the provinces, while apartments are usually built in Belgrade.