Villeroy de Galhau calls for respecting the rules for granting real estate loans

“It is desirable that the supply of bank credits now gradually resumes, but without risking over-indebted households: pay attention to the suggestions to forget the common sense standards of the HCSF”, replied François Villeroy de Galhau to a question from the regional daily on real estate credit.

The HCSF, a body chaired by the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire and on which the governor sits, updates each quarter the rules which govern in particular the duration of loans and their weight in relation to the income of borrowers.

This body "has, in recent years, unanimously, fulfilled its mission of risk prevention in the face of the continuous and singular progression of household debt, and the marked drift in loan durations and the repayment burden" , explained Mr. Villeroy de Galhau on Friday, during the annual conference of the Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACPR).

His message is aimed at brokers, who are very vocal against these standards. The CNCEF Crédit, for example, called on Wednesday to "break the lock" on the maximum debt rate, at 35% of income, the day after a demonstration organized by the professional union UIC in front of the premises of the Banque de France , in Paris, bringing together around fifteen people.

The governor's exit can also be heard by the banks, whose primary role is to finance the economy.

During the ACPR annual conference, Mr. Villeroy de Galhau also deemed it "necessary" to "better monitor" the refusal rates of banks in terms of real estate loans.

The rise in mortgage rates that began a little less than two years ago has caused the production of new loans to fall, measured at 9,2 billion euros in September by the Banque de France, to the lowest since 2015.

The next HCSF meeting is scheduled for December 4.

“Possible new technical adjustments will be studied there, provided that they do not lead to an increase in the risk of over-indebtedness,” the governor warned on Friday.