Real estate credit: banks open to easing under conditions

Bruno Le Maire had mentioned on May 4 possible "easing" of the rules in force since January 1, 2022. The Minister of the Economy had planned to discuss the derogations with the Governor of the Banque de France, who had on his side underlined not wanting to "push into over-indebtedness".

“Within the framework of the current criteria and if the authorities invite us to do so, we are ready to discuss to simplify these pockets of derogation on the conditions for granting credits”, declared Maya Atig in an interview Friday with Parisian.

It refers to the possibility that banks have of derogating from the rules according to which they can only lend on the condition that the effort rate, that is to say the total amount of expenditure linked to housing reported income, does not exceed 35%, and for a maximum of 25 years (or 27 years in the event of work prior to moving in).

Banks can do this for 20% of loans, provided that these exemptions essentially concern the acquisition of a main residence and aim in a third of cases to support first-time buyers.

The deputy managing director of Societe Generale Sébastien Proto, questioned on the occasion of the publication of the quarterly results of the bank on Friday, abounded in this direction.

"We support like our peers (...) a modification of certain sliders" which govern the granting of mortgages, he said, "and I am thinking in particular of what concerns rental investment".

First relaxation already in place since February and intended to facilitate the granting of credits, the wear rate, the maximum rate of a loan intended to protect buyers, is recalculated every month instead of once a quarter.

“It is a positive measure” which has “fluidized the production” of credit. And this production remains “strong” despite the slowdown, noted Ms. Atig.