Newlyweds to benefit from 0% mortgage rate: Ministry of Interior

The new initiative originated with President Ma Ying-jeou during his presidential election campaign earlier this year.

“The plan has been mapped out in order to encourage young people to get married and have babies,” Interior Minister Liao Liou-yi said at the workshop.

According to the draft plan, newlyweds can file applications twice for loans to a maximum of NT$2 million with zero-percent interest. Within two years of the registration of their marriage, the couple can apply for their first interest-free loan, and can apply again when they have children, or adult children who are still in school.

The eligible applicants will benefit from the interest-free mortgage for two years, with the government providing an annual NT$68,500 subsidy per household, said Huang Ching mao, acting director of the MOI’s Construction and Planning Agency.

From the third year onward, applicants will have to pay low interest rates, with a subsidy of NT$13,200 from the government.

Those who prefer to rent a house or apartment can also benefit from the new program with a maximum monthly subsidy of NT$3,600 per household for two years, he added.

To qualify for the interest-free financing, at least one member of the couple should have a full-time job, and there are quota limitations — 10,000 for home buyers and 20,000 for rental subsidies in the initial stage.

According to MOI statistics, a total of 131,851 marriages were registered last year.

In order to help people in real need, “rich people,” which the MOI defined as those with annual incomes of more than NT$2.18 million in Taipei City, NT$1.57 million in Kaohsiung City or NT$1.4 million in the rest of the country, will be excluded from the program, Huang noted.

In addition, the value of the property that newlyweds plan to buy should not exceed 10 times the couple’s annual income, Huang said.

Liao said the draft of the plan will be sent to the Executive Yuan for review and approval and is expected to be put into effect next January.

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