Purpose: purchase of housing

Preparation for payments

Read the instructions for grant payments, sample payment form and prepare the necessary documents

Send grant payment documents and questions to the email address [email protected] or to the postal address - Sepise 7, 11415, Tallinn, Ettevõtluse ja Innovatsiooni Sihtasutus, add the keyword ‘Kodutoetus’ (‘Home grant’) to the envelope.

Approval of purchase request
The grant allocation decision does not automatically give you the right to buy the dwelling indicated in the application. The purchase of the desired dwelling must be approved by the EIS at least 10 working days before the notarised purchase-sale transaction takes place (see more in Chapter I).

Implementation period of the supported project
You have two years to use the allocated grant and choose a suitable dwelling for your family. The time is counted from the date of the decision to allocate the grant coming into force. For a valid reason, it is allowed to extend the implementation period once for up to one year. For this, submit a free-form and digitally signed application to the EIS before two years have passed.

Purchase price limit
If you buy a dwelling that is more expensive than the grant amount, you can use the grant amount together with a mortgage and guarantee. You can read more about the guarantee here.

In what condition must the dwelling you want to buy be?
The desired dwelling must be in at least satisfactory condition and meet modern living conditions. The dwelling must have washing facilities and functioning heating, electricity, gas, water and sewage systems. A dwelling that is uninhabitable and does not meet modern living conditions cannot be bought with the grant.

From whom can you buy the dwelling?
You can buy a dwelling from a private person, if this person is not a member of your household or is not directly or indirectly related to you or a member of your household (parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and cousins).
You can buy a dwelling from a company if the company does not belong to you or you do not have a majority stake in it.
You can buy a dwelling at a public auction.

How many dwellings can you buy?
You can buy one dwelling. You can also buy dwellings located next to or on top of each other or a dwelling located next to or above or below a dwelling that belongs to you. In this case, you have to reconstruct the dwellings into one dwelling by the date of the decision to provide the grant.

In whose ownership should the dwelling be purchased?
If you are a single parent, you have to buy a dwelling in your sole ownership. If you have received the grant together with a co-applicant, you must buy a dwelling in co-ownership or joint ownership according to the form of cohabitation.
If you and/or your co-applicant have valid enforcement proceedings for debt collection, debts of more than €1500, or an effective court decision for the initiation/declaration of bankruptcy proceedings, you can only use the grant amount if you buy a dwelling for the ownership of a child or children who are up to 15 years of age and are living with the family. In order to make a transaction on behalf of an underage child, you must obtain the court's consent to conduct the purchase and sale transaction and submit it to the notary. You can read more about this in § 187 of the Family Act.

Ineligible expenses
Ineligible expenses are notary fees and state fees, which cannot be paid from the grant amount.

Grant payment

Preliminary activities necessary to receive the grant payment

1. Approval of purchase request

If you have found a suitable dwelling, submit a description of the dwelling (on the EIS form), exterior and interior photos or the website link to the sale’s advertisement or an expert assessment of the dwelling to the EIS at least ten working days before the notarised purchase-sale transaction takes place.

The description of the dwelling does not need to be submitted if you want to buy the dwelling indicated in the application. In this case, send a free-form email to the EIS indicating the address of the dwelling, the purchase price and in whose ownership you plan to buy the dwelling and add external and internal photos, the website link to the sale’s advertisement or an expert assessment of the dwelling to the email.

You can find the form for the description of the dwelling here.

We will review the purchase request and approve or reject the purchase. We reject the purchase request if the desired dwelling is insufficient in terms of space, in an unsatisfactory condition, there are no washing facilities, or the heating, electricity, gas, water and sewage systems do not work.

2. Conclusion of a notarised purchase-sale agreement

Book a notary’s appointment. After receiving the approval of the purchase request from the EIS, book an appointment at the notary with the parties of the purchase-sale transaction, tell the notary that you will use the home grant allocated to you to (partially) pay the purchase price.
If you buy a dwelling in the ownership of a child under 15 years of age, you can book a notary's appointment after obtaining permission from the court. The notary can confirm the purchase and sale transaction after the court's permission has come into force.

Ask for a confirmation letter. If the parties of the purchase-sale transaction ask, request a confirmation letter from the EIS to guarantee the payment of the purchase price. For this, send an email to [email protected] at least three working days before the transaction, in which you indicate the address of the dwelling to be purchased, the final purchase price, the date of the transaction and in whose ownership you are buying the dwelling. We will send a confirmation letter to your email address and forward it to the parties of the transaction. The confirmation letter is valid for ten calendar days.

Conclude a notarised purchase-sale agreement. On the date of the transaction, sign a notarised purchase-sale agreement substantive in law with the transaction parties.
The EIS representative will not be present at the transaction.

Grant payment

Submit payment documents
In order to receive the grant payment, submit a notarised purchase-sale agreement substantive in law and a grant payment request to the EIS after the purchase-sale transaction has taken place.

We will pay the grant amount to the current account of the seller of the dwelling specified in the contract or the person indicated by the seller within five banking days and inform you of the payment date by email.

Reimbursement of the dwelling’s purchase price

If you bought the dwelling after submitting the application during the application round and before receiving the decision of grant provision, you have the right to request reimbursement of the purchase price from the EIS within 45 working days after receiving the decision.

For this, submit to the EIS:

a description of the dwelling (on EIS form);
exterior and interior photos or an expert assessment of the dwelling;
a notarised purchase-sale agreement substantive in law;
a grant payment request;
a payment order proving payment of the purchase price.

You can find the form for the description of the dwelling here.
You can find the form for the grant payment request here.

We will pay the grant amount to the grant beneficiary's current account specified in the payment request within ten banking days and inform you of the payment date by email.

Grant recipient’s obligations

1. Within three months after receiving the grant payment, you must move into the purchased dwelling, register it as the residence of the family members in the population register and send an email to the EIS when you have completed these activities.

2. You must use the purchased dwelling as the family's permanent residence for two years from the date of grant payment. Renting out the dwelling to third parties is not permitted.

3. During the period of fulfilment of obligations, you must notify the EIS in writing of the following circumstances:

if you plan to sell the dwelling before the period of fulfilment of obligations ends;
if a law enforcement officer places a prohibition on the transfer of the dwelling in the land register to cover the owner's indebtedness;
if a law enforcement officer has initiated enforcement proceedings to collect your and/or your co-owner’s debts.

If you sell the dwelling before the end of the period of fulfilment of obligations, you have to repay the grant amount for the unused period. The grant does not need to be repaid if you use the money from the sale to buy a more suitable dwelling for your family.

3. Keep grant-related documents for at least seven years after the grant has been paid out.