The economist talked about the mortgage holidays

Mortgage holidays remain an important mechanism for supporting borrowers amid high interest rates. They allow the borrower to suspend loan or loan payments or reduce their amount for a period of up to six months. Julian Ovechkin, head of the mortgage department at Level Group, told Izvestia about this on February 5.

At the same time, it is important to understand that the right not to pay mortgage payments is precisely a temporary pause: the principal and interest are "frozen", but they remain.

"You can count on mortgage holidays if certain conditions are met. First of all, if the amount of the loan or loan at the time of issue did not exceed 15 million rubles, and the housing for which the loan or loan was taken is the only one for the borrower. In addition, it will not be possible to apply for mortgage holidays if they have already been provided on this loan. However, this condition does not apply if the borrower's request is related to a residential building located in an emergency zone," the economist explained.

He added that those borrowers who have lost their jobs or become temporarily disabled for more than two months in a row can also apply to the bank for mortgage holidays. If income decreases by more than 30%, the bank can also provide mortgage holidays, but on condition that the borrower must spend more than half of his income on mortgage payments.

One family — one mortgage: family mortgage rules will change from February 1

Starting from February 1, 2026, the spouses will be considered a single borrower on a family mortgage.

At the same time, the bank will approve mortgage holidays even if at the same time the borrower's number of dependents has increased, income has decreased by more than 20%, and mortgage payments have begun to exceed 40% of income. Dependents formally include young people under the age of 23 who study full-time, people with disabilities of all groups, men over 60 and women over 55. The disability of the borrower's group I or II is also a good reason to get a mortgage vacation.

"Families with two or more children have the right to get mortgage holidays regardless of income. So, at the birth of the second or subsequent children, holidays are provided for up to 18 months, and at adoption — up to 18 months, but from the date of adoption of the child. However, the income reduction criterion is not applied. At the same time, the lender has the right to charge interest for using the loan in the amount stipulated by the agreement, but only from the 7th to the 18th month of such a grace period," Ovechkin said.

Separately, the law provides for cases when the borrower lives in a residential building located in an emergency zone, subject to violation of his living conditions and loss of property as a result of an emergency situation. However, in this case, it is important to request a mortgage vacation within 60 days of the establishment of the relevant facts.

Mikhail Golovnin, Director of the Institute of Economics (IE) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said on February 3 that regulating mortgage interest rates could make lending more affordable for Russian residents. The expert added that the policy of subsidizing rates in certain groups of regions of the Russian Federation can also be implemented at the federal level. He also noted that the possibilities of the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are limited by regional preferential programs and do not allow them to be subsidized.

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