Electronic platform for primary residence protection going online from Monday

The electronic platform for protecting primary residences from foreclosure will go online on Monday, July 1. The platform will be inaugurated by the Special Secretary for Managing Private Debt Fotis Kourmousis at the economy and development ministry at 9:00 on Monday.

According to Kourmousis, 180,000 homes can qualify for protection using the electronic platform, which can also give applicants information about a state subsidy that can reach up to 50 pct of the monthly installments. Inclusion in the measure is means-tested, for both property assets and income: the tax-office valuation of the property being protected cannot exceed 250,000 euros and annual income must be less than 36,000 euros.

Roughly one month after an application is submitted through the platform, the banks that hold the loans will propose a favourable debt settlement scheme. The applicants will then have one month to decide whether they wish to take advantage of this offer. Once a contract is signed, the process for paying state subsidies of the monthly installments will begin, with the payment starting within one month and lasting up to 25 years.

Interested parties can apply through the online platform at the Special Secretariat for Managing Private Debt until the end of the year.

Experts emphasise the importance of the platform for Greece, where the percentage of non-performing loans in bank portfolios remains exceedingly high at 45.2 pct of total loans. For consumer loans it is even higher (53 pct) and for loans to freelance workers and small businesses it rises to roughly two thirds (67 pct).

The state subsidies for loan installments will help ensure that the debtors keep up with payments under the debt settlement schemes, giving them an incentive to continue, experts say.