The Russian government has launched a pilot program of preferential mortgages for self-construction of private residential buildings.

The corresponding decree was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

As part of the initiative, Russians will be able to obtain a loan on favorable terms for the construction of summer cottages, cottages or townhouses on their own - without concluding a contract with professional developers.

The maximum rate on such loans will not exceed 9% per annum.

“The launch of a new preferential mortgage program will allow more Russians to improve their living conditions,” the Cabinet said in a statement.

You can get under preferential terms when receiving a loan of up to 12 million rubles in the Moscow and St. Petersburg agglomerations, as well as up to 6 million rubles in other regions of the Russian Federation.

In total, in 2022, it is planned to issue about 8 thousand such loans for a total amount of more than 50 billion rubles, according to the materials of the DOM.RF company.

Under the terms of the program, a land plot on which construction is planned, and a house after its construction can be accepted as collateral.

In this case, all construction work must be completed within 12 months after the conclusion of the loan agreement.

Otherwise, the bank may raise the interest rate.

“The new measures will make mortgages in this market segment more accessible.

We expect that thanks to the spread of preferential mortgages for individual housing construction in Russia, about 1 million square meters more will be built and put into operation.

m of housing,” said Svetlana Nekrasova, managing director of DOM.RF.

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According to a study by DOM.RF and VTsIOM, today about a third of those who want to build a private house on a mortgage are not ready to turn to professional developers and plan to do all the work on their own.

We are talking about about 50 thousand families.

In October 2021, the government extended the preferential mortgage program for the purchase of private houses and individual housing construction (IZHS).

At the same time, companies or individual entrepreneurs under a work contract had to build the facility.

As a result, the initiative did not cause much excitement among the population, Oleg Lagutkin, general director of the Equifax credit bureau, told RT.

“Mortgage loans for the construction of individual houses with a contract worked poorly.

On average, their market share rarely exceeded 1.5%.

However, the changes approved by the government are likely to shift the focus of consumers' attention, and we can expect some growth in the number of mortgage loans issued for the construction of private houses, ”said Lagutkin.

According to him, now the total cost of a mortgage in Russia (all the borrower's expenses for servicing a loan) averages 12.3%.

Against this background, the possibility of obtaining a loan at a rate not exceeding 9% per annum may stir up the interest of citizens in the IZHS market.

This opinion was shared with RT by Yaroslav Ostrovsky, a specialist in the department of strategic research at Total Research.

“The program will definitely be in demand, because for such purposes people still have to take loans at fairly high rates.

However, the main difficulty lies in the fact that the house must be built within a year after the loan is issued.

Private projects are not stamping, and there can be many nuances that take time.

In addition, now there are certain problems with the rental of special equipment for digging pits, septic tanks and leveling sites, ”Ostrovsky explained.

According to experts interviewed by RT, now it is impossible to say unequivocally how much more profitable the construction of a private house in Russia is compared to buying a finished object in a mortgage.

According to Oleg Lagutkin, everything depends on the individual conditions of the borrower.

“When buying a ready-made object, the consumer receives a house in which they can immediately move and live, but it may not fully meet the requirements of the consumer and his family.

When building a residential building, it is possible to take into account all your wishes and the wishes of family members, but you will have to spend time building and finishing the house, which in some cases can be quite significant.

In addition, at the time of construction, you will have to provide yourself and your family with other accommodation for living, ”the expert concluded.