Interest In German Family Housing Subsidy Crashes Bank Website

Accra, Sept. 18 - (DPA/GNA) - Interest in applications for a German state housing subsidy for families with children was so great at its launch on Tuesday that the webpage of the state-owned development bank crashed, a bank spokesman told dpa.

'The access portal was inaccessible for a period of 20 minutes,' the spokesman for the KfW development bank said.

German families are now eligible to apply for a state subsidy to build or buy a home. The amount offered is 1,200 euros (1,400 dollars) per child and year and will be paid out for 10 years, totalling 12,000 euros per child.

The aim is to boost home ownership in the face of sharply rising property prices in the major cities.

The government is expecting to pay out up to 10 billion euros for the programme, which has been criticised by opposition parties as an expensive subsidy to be borne by the average taxpayer and which will serve to boost property prices further.

GNA