The recommendation issued by the High Council for Financial Stability (HCSF) was already well followed, but it will now be binding.
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This time, it’s official. As of January 1, individuals will no longer have the right to borrow over more than 25 years to acquire real estate. In fact, this recommendation issued in 2019 by the High Council for Financial Stability (HCSF) was already well applied by banking institutions. But this instruction will now be compulsory and will be entered in the Official Journal at the beginning of 2022. The average duration of mortgage loans has gone from 18 years in 2015 to 20.1 years at the beginning of 2019, underlined in October the HCSF in a report. report (PDF) devoted to risks in the residential real estate sector.
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A few exceptions will still exist: entry into enjoyment of the property delayed in relation to the granting of the credit (with a maximum duration of 27 years), new housing under construction or the purchase of an old property with work representing 25% of the total. total cost of the operation … The text also provides that certain financial institutions may derogate from the rule, but in a limited part of new loans.
In addition, the debt ratio of borrowers may not exceed 35% of annual income. “A usual market practice is thus to limit it to 33% on grant”, explained the HCSF in October, while stressing that this indication was still subject to exceptions, with a quarter of the credits “with an effort rate greater than 35%“in 2018. “Some banks took a little longer to set up the criteria and had a little more largesse on the granting conditions”, explained in September Cécile Roquelaure, director of studies at Empruntis. While adding that things were back to normal in the first half of 2021.
In its decision dated September 2021 (PDF), the HCSF recalls that “Household debt rose from 53.4% of gross disposable income to 100.9% between the first quarter of 2001 and the first quarter of 2021”. In this context, the objective is therefore to promote a “prudent granting of housing loans”, in order not to weaken the financial capacities of the French.