The Russian government will raise the rate on the program of preferential mortgages from 7% to 12%, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said yesterday. In order to support the volume of housing commissioning, the government proposed to keep the family (6% rate), Far Eastern (2%) and rural mortgage (3%) programs on the same terms.

At the same time, the program of preferential mortgages in force until July 1, 2022 will be modified: the rate will increase to 12%, the loan amount for four regions with high housing prices will increase from 3 million to 12 million rubles (Moscow, Moscow region, St. Petersburg, Leningrad region), for other regions – up to 6 million rubles.

“We will look at how this program will work, and if necessary we will adjust it,” said Khusnullin at the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with members of the government.

According to Khusnullin, the parameters of the program have been developed jointly with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank and, if supported, will work from April 1. He specified that the new conditions will be in force until July 1. In the future, the government will look and if necessary “fine-tune” them.

Putin during the meeting supported the government’s initiative. “Let’s do it, I agree,” he said. “We will see how all these decisions will work. And again I would like to remind the benchmark: the portfolio of mortgage loans this year should grow no less than last year,” the president said.

If the dynamics of mortgage loans will differ from the planned values, it is necessary to fine-tune the parameters of the program of preferential mortgages, Putin pointed out.

VTB is the first of the banks plans to start working under the new conditions of the preferential mortgage state program. “From March 23, customers can apply for a preferential housing loan on new terms in the bank’s offices. VTB will carry out the first transactions from the date of entry into force of the Russian government decree,” the bank assured.