Beneficiaries of Romania's First House program can buy bigger homes

The people who have already bought or built a house via the First House program can now get state guarantees to buy a bigger and more expensive house, through the same program. However, they first need to sell the owned property and reimburse the first loan taken via the First House program by the time they sign the contract for the new home, according to the law amendments which came into force on Thursday last week, reports local Mediafax. The National Credit Guarantee Fund for SMEs (FNGCIMM), the state institution that issues the guarantees, which are aimed to support and make it cheaper for individuals to buy their first house through mortgage loans, has granted over 15,600 guarantees for the First House program in the first six months of this year. These went up by 40% year-on-year, reaching EUR 294 million. The state guarantees cover half of the value of the loans banks grant for house purchases under this program, which can have a total value of up to EUR 57,000 for old houses and EUR 66,500 for newly built houses. editor@romania-insider.com