Participants in First House programs to sign contracts with lending bank

About 400 applicants for apartments within the municipal program First House are to be examined by the lending bank within two weeks. Mayor General of Chisinau Dorin Chirtoaca said the first contracts with the bank will be signed this week, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the mayor, the interest rate on the loans taken out within the program is very low – of 9%. In order to set such a rate, Banca Comerciala Romana (Romanian Commercial Bank) needed the approval of the mother company from the EU. The beneficiaries are to receive apartments in the building erected on Ghioceilor St in Buiucani district, which will be ready in the fourth quarter of next year. They can also apply for a new attic-like apartment, or an old apartment on the secondary market. At the first stage of the program, 160 attic-like apartments will be built by June 2011 on a number of apartment buildings. Another 351 attic-like apartments will be constructed by this yearend. Dorin Chirtoaca said priority should be given to the person who want to purchase old apartments as they need only a precontract. More than 250 applications for such apartments have been filed to district heads' offices so far. The program is open to private individuals who do not have dwellings or whose apartments or houses are smaller than the norm of 12 square meters per person, who live or work in the municipality of Chisinau and can pay for the apartments in installments from their monthly income. The applications may be submitted to the district heads’ offices of Chisinau. As many as 389 applications have been accepted so far. Another 62 applications are being examined. The loans are repayable in 10 to 30 years at an interest rate of 9% a year. Until the loan is repaid, the apartments will remain as pledge with the banks