“Requirements are softening”: the government has expanded the conditions for preferential mortgages for IT specialists

The Russian government will expand the terms of preferential mortgages for IT workers.

This was announced on Monday, January 30, by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin during a meeting with his deputies.

“Housing loans under this program will become available to employees of all accredited companies aged 18 to 50 years (inclusive. -

).

Wage requirements are also relaxed.

At the same time, income will be taken into account not only from the main place of work, but also part-time, ”said Mishustin.

Previously, only IT professionals aged 22 to 44 inclusive could receive a loan on favorable terms.

Moreover, out of 20,000 industry organizations accredited in Russia, only 12,000 employers receiving tax preferences were subject to the requirements of the program.

In addition, earlier, in order to obtain a preferential mortgage, the minimum salary of employees of the IT sector in million-plus cities was to be 150 thousand rubles before deducting personal income tax, and in other settlements - 100 thousand rubles.

Now these figures will be reduced to 120 thousand and 70 thousand rubles, respectively, and only for Moscow the threshold of 150 thousand rubles will remain.

“The monthly income will be determined based on the place of work specified in the employment contract.

It can be either the head office of the company or a regional branch.

Previously, the salary of an applicant for such a housing loan had to correspond to the city where the head office is located, which, of course, made it more difficult for specialists in the regions to obtain an IT mortgage,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said.

According to him, working in an accredited IT company after applying for a loan will require at least five years, and not the entire repayment period of the mortgage, as previously assumed.

At the same time, in case of dismissal of an employee, the subsidized rate for him will be valid for another six months instead of three months, the deputy chairman of the Cabinet added.

Recall that the Russian authorities launched a preferential mortgage program for IT specialists in 2022.

This decision was made to support the information technology sector and create comfortable conditions for industry employees.

As part of the initiative, employees of IT companies can apply for a housing loan at a subsidized rate of up to 5% per annum until December 31, 2024.

You can get a loan when buying real estate worth up to 18 million rubles in million-plus cities and up to 9 million rubles in other settlements of the country.

It is noteworthy that today banks often issue such loans at a lower interest rate than indicated in the program.

So, it is now possible to get an IT mortgage at an average of 4.68% per annum, and in some credit institutions - at 4.35-4.5%.

For comparison: market rates for housing loans in Russia are now about 11.1-11.2% per annum, as evidenced by the materials of the company "DOM.RF".

The difference between the market and subsidized rates is reimbursed by the state to banks.

In turn, the size of the down payment on an IT mortgage must be at least 15% of the cost of housing.

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As Dmitry Chernyshenko said, since the launch of the program, Russian IT specialists have already issued about 6,000 loans for more than 54 billion rubles.

In total, according to the authorities, over 50,000 people will be able to take advantage of the preferential mortgage over the three years of its existence, and the volume of loans issued should be approximately 240 billion rubles.

In 2023, the authorities are going to send 6.5 billion rubles from the federal budget to reimburse part of the interest rate to banks.

Meanwhile, in 2024, funding for the preferential program will be increased to 8 billion rubles, Chernyshenko noted.

Reason to stay

The simplification of the conditions for issuing housing loans to IT workers can be a positive signal both for the real estate market and for the Russian IT sector as a whole.

Konstantin Aprelev, Vice President of the Russian Guild of Realtors, shared this opinion in an interview with RT.

“This is a good offer, as it will increase the number of potential applicants for preferential mortgages.

IT specialists still occupy a small share of the real estate market, and perhaps their number will increase due to government measures.

Thus, the authorities want to keep IT specialists in the country,” Aprelev suggested.

As Mark Goykhman, chief analyst at TeleTrade, recalled in an interview with RT, in 2022, after a number of foreign IT companies left Russia, the demand for domestic high-tech solutions and services increased in the country.

At the same time, the authorities estimate that approximately 100,000 IT specialists (or about 10% of employees) have gone abroad, although most of them (about 80%) continue to work for Russian companies.

“The massive exodus of labor from the country has led to a shortage of personnel in the industry.

The number of vacancies in the IT segment today is noticeably higher than the number of applicants for the relevant qualifications.

Russian companies have stepped up the hiring of employees, and the expansion of preferential mortgages is also called upon to retain specialists in this field and attract new ones.

Whether the measures of the authorities will be effective, only the practice of the coming months will show, ”Goykhman added.

In addition to subsidized mortgages, the government has previously approved a number of other initiatives to support the Russian IT sector.

We are talking, for example, about preferential loans for companies in the industry up to 3% per annum, exempting businesses from income tax, as well as grant support with a maximum amount of up to 500 million rubles.

“The President set the task of ensuring the technological sovereignty of the country.

To solve it, competent specialists in the IT field are in demand.

It is important to provide them with comprehensive support, to preserve the personnel potential of the entire industry,” Mikhail Mishustin emphasized.

Ultimately, the decisions already taken by the country's leadership should still have a positive impact on the development of the Russian IT industry and help it overcome the personnel crisis.

This point of view in a conversation with RT was expressed by the first vice-president of the all-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized businesses "Support of Russia" Pavel Sigal.

“Everyone understands that an IT specialist is a sought-after specialty that many people begin to receive at school, and you can already be an expert in this field at a relatively young age.

In this context, any support from the government is very important, because it is not only aimed at material incentives, but also shows the very attitude of the state towards the industry, which is a priority for it,” Segal added.