Lárus L. Blöndal

The Housing Financing Fund (HFF) is an independent government institution granting mortgage loans to individuals, municipalities, companies and organizations to finance housing purchase and construction work. The fund is financially independent and funds its lending and operations by its own income. The purpose of the fund is to ensure housing security and equality for all Icelanders through lending and organization of housing affairs and special investments in order to increase people´s opportunities of obtaining and leasing housing on controllable terms. The Housing Financing Fund grants such as General housing and home improvement loans to individuals, Loans for rental housing to municipalities, companies and organizations, and Loans for extensive housing renovations due to borrower´s limited physical capabilities. The Board of the Housing Financing Fund is free to create new loan classes, subject to the approval of the Ministry of Social Affairs. The Housing Financing Fund replaced the Icelandic Housing Authority upon the confirmation of the new Housing Act, no. 44/1998 once the State Building Fund and the Workers´ Building Fund were merged. The history of official lending for residential housing dates back to 1955 when the law on housing control, mortgage lending for housing construction and the elimination of unhealthy housing was confirmed. The Housing Authority was founded two years later and then the Housing Financing Fund at the beginning of 1999.