Slovakia’s central bank is clamping down even more on mortgage loans in an effort to avoid the creation of a dangerous real estate bubble. The result is that beginning in January, it will be more expensive for consumers to take out loans, according to the daily newspaper SME. The most important change will likely be stricter rules over the percentage of a family’s income that must be left over after making the one’s mortgage payment. Under the previous rules, young people who qualified were able to receive €5,000 in interest relief for the first five years of the the loan. This will be reduced to just €2,000 in savings that they can request through special tax relief measures. The central bank will be toughening conditions on standard consumer loans as well.
