The Bijelo Polje Municipal Assembly in Montenegro approved subsidies of up to 10,000 euros for young couples’ housing loans at its 44th session on 26 October, setting aside 320,000 euros from the local budget. The decision covers married and unmarried couples and is intended to help young families secure housing in the municipality.
If every recipient received the maximum subsidy, the budget would cover 32 families, according to the decision’s terms. The number could be higher if individual awards were smaller, allowing the allocated funds to reach more applicants.
Eligibility requires both partners to be at least 18 years old, with at least one aged 30 or younger. Both must have registered residence in Bijelo Polje and neither may own or co-own another residential property in Montenegro. Couples must also have an approved housing loan from a commercial bank, starting from the date the decision takes effect, and meet other conditions set in the public call.
Applications will be ranked by household income per member and the number of children. The decision assigns 60 of 100 points to income and 40 to the number of children, giving priority to families with lower per-member incomes and more children. The Secretariat for Local Self-Government will publish the call, and applicants will have 15 days to apply. A commission will award the subsidies using the ranking list; applicants may object to preliminary results.
The public call was expected to be issued within 10 days of the 26 October meeting. The measures followed applications by more than 1,000 residents of Bijelo Polje to buy homes through the Velje Brdo housing project in Podgorica, Democratic Party of Socialists councillor Damir Mustajbašić said. He described Velje Brdo as a multi-million-euro project and said the applications prompted a local initiative to help young families find housing in their home municipality.
Mustajbašić warned the Podgorica project could contribute to further population outflows from the north and migration towards central Montenegro. He said he did not oppose state support for housing in Podgorica, where many people rent, but argued that policy should also address balanced regional development. “If you support housing only in Podgorica, you support internal migration from the north towards the centre of the country,” he said.
