OREANDA-NEWS. July 06, 2010. This year Bank SNORAS has credited as many as 31 associations of tenant house dwellers. The majority of them were in Vilnius and Panevezys, where 10 tenant houses renovation projects were financed in each city. This year the bank’s credits were also used by the associations in Kaunas, Klaipeda, Siauliai, Alytus and Taurage, reported the press-centre of Bank SNORAS.       

In June alone this year, Bank SNORAS provided the associations with credits which were worth LTL 1.8 million. The total amount of financing agreements concluded by the bank this year comprises almost LTL 8 million. The average amount per project exceeds LTL 250,000.

“Tenant houses renovation is widely and loudly discussed today. Meanwhile, it is paradoxical that it is the voice of the associations of tenant houses that is the weakest in these discussions. Although during the first months of this year we have already financed more than 30 associations, which may be considered an obvious recovery in the sphere of tenant houses renovation, the fact that in Lithuania there are thousands of tenant houses that require renovation must also be taken into consideration. While there is so much information about renovation processes and financing, the activity of the associations remains really low,” Raimondas Baranauskas, the president of AB Bank SNORAS, states.

According to R. Baranauskas, in the coming years there will not probably be a more favourable moment for renovation – currently construction work rates and material prices are the lowest in the last 3 years. Also, the state’s support as well as the credit amount granted by Bank SNORAS which comprises up to 95 per cent of the project’s value are an excellent opportunity to invest in the comfort of life as well as the reduction of expenses and to be appropriately prepared to meet this heating season.

The credit amount for the housing renovation project credits of tenant houses associations granted by Bank SNORAS with the guarantee of the guarantee fund JSC “Investiciju ir verslo garantijos” (INVEGA) may comprise up to 95% of the project’s value. With the guarantee from INVEGA, which is equated to the state’s guarantee, the amount of the initial payment which is applied to the credit for renovation projects by Bank SNORAS comprises as little as 5% of the entire project.

Bank SNORAS gives credits to such projects in LTL as well as EUR. With the guarantee from the company INVEGA Bank SNORAS applies a 2 to 3 per cent bank margin in LTL and the floating interest base VILIBOR (optionally: 6 or 12 months) to associations crediting. The maximum term of repaying credits to the associations is up to 10 years, the term of using the credit is one and a half years.

The state compensates the low income people for heating expenses if these expenses exceed 20 per cent of the family’s income (according to the data from Ministry of Social Security and Labour, there are approximately 11 per cent of such people in Lithuania). Covered expenses include the expenses meant for housing renovation; therefore, families receiving low income may also participate in housing renovation because it will not be necessary to pay for it additionally. The state intends to compensate them for up to 100 per cent of the initial payment (but not more than 10 per cent of the investment amount) as well as to fully reimburse for the payments for credit insurance and the credit being repaid.