2023-12-04 15:28:22
The quest for the ideal balance between support for the real estate sector and the prevention of over-indebtedness continues: as expected, the High Financial Stability Council (HCSF), meeting on Monday December 4, adopted “technical” measures aimed at promoting access to real estate credit.
No question, therefore, of calling into question the rules governing the granting of credit since 2019, i.e. the capping at 35% of the effort rate (the amount of repayments compared to the borrower’s income) and at twenty-five years of the duration of the loans. Two principles considered too rigid by some market players, brokers in the lead, during a period of rising rates and falling volumes.
At Bercy as at the Banque de France, on the other hand, we explain that we want to eliminate the “grains of sand” likely to seize up the workings of credit. Banks will therefore be able to free themselves a little more easily from the rules in force through three other routes. The effort rate can thus be calculated without taking into account the interest linked to a possible bridging loan, a measure which might benefit, by reducing the charges to be taken into account, files for which the effort rate is close to the ceiling. by 35%.
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Second relaxation: the duration of the loan may be increased to twenty-seven years in the event of energy renovation work, the bill for which would represent at least 10% of the total amount borrowed. The HCSF will also modify the terms of application of the margin of exemption from the basic rules granted to banks, which can concern up to 20% of loans but is only used for a little more than 14%, credit establishments credit with a tendency to “underutilize” it to avoid sanctions. From now on, when it has been exceeded during a given quarter, the bank will have two quarters to get back on track.
These new features should come into effect in around ten days. In addition, the HCSF “supports” an initiative by the French Banking Federation aimed at allowing a re-examination of a solvent loan application following a refusal by a bank. This system, which might be operational in February, is not intended to create a universal right to credit. “It would be the best way to over-indebted people and, moreover, it would not be constitutional”explains a source close to the HCSF.
This second examination of the loan application file is supposed to allow borrowers to highlight specific features of their file likely to lead to the granting of a loan or, failing that, to obtaining explanations concerning the refusal of the bank. The effectiveness of this measure is impossible to evaluate since neither the Ministry of the Economy nor the Bank of France have solid statistics on loan request refusals.
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