Eesti in brief - 2009-08-12

  • 2009-08-12
Tallinn's city government has prepared its second housing construction program, which will provide one hundred families with housing, reports news agency LETA. The program was approved by the city council on June 12 last year, and is based on a Public-Private Partnership. Three residential buildings will be constructed in the Raadiku residential neighborhood, with 100 flats to be allocated to families who need housing. "The fact that all so-called 'forced tenants,' who were in the queue, and have by now received flats for rent from the city does not mean that the need for municipal flats has exhausted itself," said deputy Mayor of Tallinn Eha Vork.

Estonia's law that regulates and limits quick-loan interest rates has failed, as these loans haven't gotten cheaper, shows analysis from Kiirlaen.info, reports news agency LETA. "The amendment regulations came into force about three months ago, with upper rate limits set," says co-founder of Webistre Solutions, Tonis Hinnosaar, which manages Kiirlaen.info. The upper limit comes into force only when some assumptions are met. The main thing is that the lender may not take advantage of a borrower's difficult situation. The borrower must be aware of all loan terms, and the issuer must be aware of the borrower's economic situation. "One must admit that there haven't been big changes. We expected that borrowers would start to think of new possibilities on taxation of the loans. It has happened, since several lenders have reduced rates, but have added credit rating analysis or some other similar service. In practice, it means that loans will cost as much as before," Hinnosaar said.