The Cabinet would this week review a proposal to expand eligibility for mortgage subsidies after the central bank hiked interest rates four times last year, a person with knowledge of the matter has said.
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) has said housing policies would be on the agenda of the today’s Cabinet meeting, where details of the proposal would be reviewed, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) on Monday confirmed that the Cabinet had received such a proposal during an inspection of the National Housing and Urban Regeneration Center.
Photo: Hsu Yi-ping, Taipei Times
The government offers mortgage subsidies to first-time home buyers with annual household income under a certain level. Eligibility criteria differ in each of the six special municipalities. For example, a household in Taipei must have an annual income of no more than NT$1.67 million (US$55,101) to qualify for a mortgage subsidy, while the ceiling has been set at NT$1.02 million in Tainan and NT$990,000 in other administrative regions.
In addition, the mortgage amount must not exceed NT$2.5 million for applicants in Taipei, NT$2.3 million for those in New Taipei City and NT$2.1 million for other areas.
Household members must not have a second home to their name to be eligible for mortgage subsidies.
The Cabinet would also review a proposal to set up a fund jointly contributed by first-time home buyers and the government to provide young people with more financial assistance to buy a home, Lin said.
Among other proposals to be reviewed is a revised rent subsidy program that seeks to grant subsidies to households whose income is less than one-third of the minimum cost of living as determined by the local government, instead of the 2.5 times currently.
The proposed revision would not cover people who own a home.
The legislature’s Organic Law and Statute Bureau had said the plan to expand eligibility for mortgage subsidies lacks a legal basis.
The Construction and Planning Agency said the legislative basis is draft article 3-2 of a special bill to use NT$380 billion surplus tax revenue from last year.
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