Home loans are getting harder and harder to get! And while the government wants to ease the conditions of access, interest rates do not stop rising: they reached 3% over 20 years in March. So the banks are restricting grants and refusing more and more files. Moreover, the production of new housing loans fell to 14.6 billion in February, 40% less than a year ago, according to the Banque de France. And in brokerage agencies, it’s a real obstacle course to obtain credits.
Three out of ten files refused
Like at the VousFinancer agency in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. On a large shelf behind her wooden desk, Sophia Hbaz, the agency’s credit manager, classifies her clients’ files. Since the beginning of the year, 70% of its bank loan applications have been accepted. For others, you have to be patient.
“Nearly three out of ten files are refused. Last year, it was different. We had three cases: either the client withdrew, or it was actually a loan refusal, or there was financing by competition”, she explains at the microphone of Europe 1.
Excellent files also pending
Faced with rising interest rates and more cautious banks, Sophia sometimes has to fight to have her files validated, even for the best files, such as that of Haitem Ben Belgacem and his wife. It’s a great profile. We have incomes that are very satisfactory for a 36-year-old couple. We are at more than 7,000 euros in income per month”, notes the credit director. However, “the loan was refused in 2022”, explains Haitem Ben Belgacem. “There was this story of the wear rate which blocked” our request, continues the thirty-something.
Finally, it took six months of work to obtain this loan. Additional costs for the broker, who considers working “four times more to validate files”. And the task still seems to repeat itself: Sophia Hbaz still has about twenty files awaiting response.