More and more details are being revealed about the home renovation grant starting in January, which will be supplemented by a home renovation loan based on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s announcement on December 19. This will help those who, in the absence of self-sufficiency, would not have been able to intervene in the remodeling and would not have been able to benefit from the support that could be claimed later. Analysts at Bank360.hu calculated after what conditions applicants could wait and whether there is a more favorable opportunity to finance a renewal than the new loan.

Families can finance up to half of a property’s total renovation with the Home Renovation Grant, which begins in January. The aid amount is HUF 3 million, which may represent a maximum of 50 percent of the costs, but this amount can only be obtained afterwards, after the renewal is complete. In order to use the maximum amount of support, renovation works of a minimum value of HUF 6 million must be carried out, but in many cases families do not have these savings. The home renovation loan, which will begin in February 2021, will help finance renovation works.

What do we know so far about the renewal loan?

The maximum loan amount that can be requested, according to the conditions of the aid, is 6 million HUF, the interest on the transaction during the interest subsidy period cannot exceed 3 percent and the term cannot exceed ten years. The application may be submitted to credit institutions on February 1 at the earliest and must meet the same conditions as later when applying for the grant.

Those who make use of this option can apply for the grant from March 2021 at least, or have one year from the disbursement of the loan to apply for the grant, so this is how the renovation works must be completed.

“Applying for a loan has been a possible solution so far, but a home improvement loan offers a new opportunity for families that are not self-sufficient. The loan, which can be obtained at an interest rate of up to 3 percent, offers more favorable terms than currently available free-use personal loans, but also competes with cheaper home loans, ”said Rita Vrazsovits, an analyst at Bank360. .hu, to hvg.hu about the announced loan plan.

Is this really the best solution?

Before anyone plans to renovate their home based on the new loan scheme, Bank360.hu analysts ask for consideration, as this is not the only financing option. The financial portal has performed some sample calculations to facilitate comparison. In their calculation, they compared a HUF 6 million free use home loan and the terms of a home renovation loan.

According to the Bank360.hu calculator, you can now apply for a free-to-use home loan with an APR of 5.27 percent. Calculated with six million guilders and a term of ten years, the initial installment is HUF 63,544. If six months elapse between the loan and the prepayment, the monthly installment will be around HUF 31,000 after the prepayment, and approximately HUF 3.53 million would remain repayable during the remaining term.

In comparison, in the case of the home renovation loan, also with a ten-year term, at an interest rate of 3% (the APR is expected to be slightly higher), the down payment will be around HUF 58,000. Following the same example, after prepayment of 3 million HUF, the monthly fee will be around 28,000 HUF, so the remaining amount to be paid will be 3.15 million HUF. This is approximately 400,000 HUF less than in the case of market rate mortgages.

The advantage of the state scheme is further increased by the fact that, in the case of a market loan, it is worth having a prepayment fee, which can vary from bank to bank and scheme to scheme, but in the case of a subsidized loan, it will be free.

What about free personal loans?

There is no possibility of an objective comparison in the case of personal loans, as the longest term available is eight years as calculated by Bank360.hu. However, a shorter term may not be a disadvantage, since the loan will be exhausted sooner, although with a slightly higher installment. Analysts also discussed an offer here: When requesting 6 million HUF, the APR is 9.62 percent as of January, maturing in eight years, and the monthly fee is 89,087 HUF. Considering a renewal period of half a year, the applicant can expect a monthly fee of approximately HUF 43,000 after advance payment, and they would still have to repay between HUF 3.8 and 3.9 million in the remaining part of the term.

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