According to SDS MP Andrej Poglajen, Slovenia is facing one of the biggest crises in the area of housing policy. “Young people, families, and the elderly are caught in a vicious circle of excessive prices and slow construction every day,” he emphasised at Tuesday’s press conference.
He said the government’s pre-election promises of 30,000 state-owned rental apartments have remained nothing but empty words. “High budget items do not build apartments,” Andrej Poglajen said critically.
The Slovenian Democratic Party (Slovenska demokratska stranka – SDS) emphasises that forcing young people into state-owned rental apartments is not the right solution. Instead, they need conditions that make it easier for them to buy their own property. That is why the SDS party has prepared a comprehensive package of measures to make it easier for young people to buy their own homes.
Key measures of the SDS party
– Updating the guarantee scheme for young people: removing the 20 percent own contribution requirement, raising the credit limit from 200,000 to 300,000 euros, and introducing a tax relief measure whereby 10 percent of the housing loan would be transferred to tax relief over a period of ten years.
– Reduction of taxes on long-term leases: instead of the increase from 15 percent to 25 percent introduced by the government, the SDS party proposes lower tax rates – 15 percent for leases of one to three years and 10 percent for leases of more than three years.
– Exemption from real estate transfer tax for young people: young people up to the age of 38 who are buying their first home for their own use would be exempt from this tax. –
Encouraging the renovation of existing housing stock: up to 50 percent co-financing of renovation and energy efficiency improvements for young people who buy an old apartment or house.
– Concessions for new construction: 50 percent reduction in municipal contributions, with the difference covered by the state; ten-year exemption from paying compensation for the use of building land (NUSZ).
– Faster building permits: shortening of procedures, digitisation, and introduction of a single point for obtaining permits.
“Owning your own home should not be a privilege”
“Our goal is clear: owning your own home must become achievable, not a dream that only a few can realise. Young people must have a future at home, not abroad. We in the SDS party offer concrete solutions, not empty numbers,” Poglajen emphasised at the end.
Sara Kovač
