Serbia's Youth Housing Loans: Poštanska Štedionica Halts New Applications
The state-guaranteed mortgage scheme for under-36s is running out of room at its biggest lender. Other banks report most of their quotas used.
Poštanska Štedionica, the state-owned bank that has handled the largest share of Serbia's subsidised housing loans for young people, has temporarily stopped accepting new applications, it said on its website on Monday, 9 November. Approved loans plus requests still being processed have reached its 440 million euro share of the state guarantee, the bank said.
Why the bank stopped
The bank called the pause a temporary step taken to manage the available limit responsibly. It said it had asked the Ministry of Finance last week for an extra allocation from the scheme's total guarantee framework of 900 million euros and could resume taking applications immediately if that is approved. Requests already submitted will be processed as normal, and the bank expects about 5,300 young people and their families to buy a first home through it. It also said the programme had increased competition among banks and narrowed margins on commercial mortgages, which it continues to offer.
What other banks say
Forbes Srbija asked the other participating banks about their quotas. UniCredit said it was still processing applications, with about 85% of its tranche used, and noted that the funds are not unlimited. Erste Bank said intake was continuing normally and that it had completed 81 loans. NLB, Banca Intesa and OTP did not respond. Forbes also cited appraisers and borrowers who said some banks had stopped issuing the loans months ago.
How the scheme works
The programme, launched in March 2025, is open to people aged 20 to 35 at the time of application and offers state-guaranteed loans with a minimum down payment of 1%. Repayment terms run from six to 40 years, and the property cannot be sold or rented out for six years. Parliament raised the guarantee ceiling from 600 million to 900 million euros in June. At that time Finance Minister Siniša Mali, now serving in a caretaker capacity, said about 7,500 young people had solved their housing needs through the scheme and that the original allocation was not enough to meet demand.
The Finance Ministry did not answer Forbes' questions on whether the programme is being wound down or how many loans are pending. The decision on extra funds may fall to the new government, which the Student List majority is expected to form after parliament's constitutive session on 17 November.
Sources
This report is written by The Serbian Review from the sources listed above; facts are attributed where they could not be independently verified. Spotted an error? See our Corrections Policy.
