UPDATE: On December 16, 2020, new information was published on the website of the Ministry of Economy on the possibility of applying for a rent subsidy for the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. According to this information, application can be submitted from December 16, 2020 to March 31, 2021.

On  December 1, 2020, the National Council of Slovakia approved an amendment to the act on provision of grants within the competence of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak republic, which changes the conditions for obtaining the rent grants during the 2^nd wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Changes due to the amendment

The amendment brings several changes in the current conditions for applying for this type of state aid:

• the rent contract must be effective not later than August 8, 2020 (until now the term February 1, 2020 applied),
• the changes in the rent contract agreed after August 31, 2020 shall not be considered (until now the term February 12, 2020 applied),
• a new reason for “difficult use” of the rented object was added, if its use has been restricted due to restriction on freedom of movement and residence due to the ordered curfew.

April 1, 2021 as a key date

The most significant change represents the term April 1, 2021. Until now, the tenant should start to pay the rent for the period of difficult use (regardless of the fact whether they agreed on rental discount or not) from the month following the month, in which the emergency situation ends. Pursuant to this amendment, the tenant will be obliged to pay the full rent for this time of period not later than on April 1, 2021. It continues to apply, that during the rent payments, the landlord or his legal successor is not obliged to increase the rent unilaterally, if this right was not agreed in the contract before August 1, 2020.

The change in due date of the rent doesn’t affect the agreements concerning the unpaid rent  for the period of the difficult use for which the grant was provided before December 1, 2020. The change doesn’t apply to the unpaid rent for the period of difficult use in the first wave, if the landlord and tenant didn’t agree on the rent discount before December 1, 2020.

These cases will be administered by the previously valid law, i.e. the tenant will still be able to pay the rent for the period until December 1, 2020  in a maximum of 48 monthly instalments always due on the 15^th day of the calendar month, starting on the 15^th day of the calendar month following the calendar month  in which the coronavirus emergency situation ended.

As of the date of the publication of this article, the Ministry of the Economy of the Slovak republic hasn’t yet published the specific conditions based on which it will be possible to apply for the rent grant for the second wave. The application shall be available from December 15, 2020.

Simona Klučiarová

Senior Associate | Accace Slovakia

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