ŠFRB is the State Housing Development Fund, which supports housing predominantly in the form of favourable long-term loans with a low interest rate and a long repayment period, not non-repayable subsidies. This is precisely the most common misunderstanding – it is repayable support that has to be paid back. It finances municipalities' acquisition of rental flats and technical infrastructure, the renovation and thermal insulation of apartment buildings including the replacement of lifts and utility networks, the removal of systemic defects, and, in some programmes, the acquisition of housing by individuals. Applicants tend to be municipalities, associations of flat owners, administrators, and, under set conditions, individuals as well. The support is often combined with a subsidy for the same building, in which case it is necessary to separate which part of the costs is covered by what, so as to avoid double financing.
See also: Grants for Rental Housing, Grants for Building Renovation, Double Financing.
