A bill tabled by Renaissance deputies wishes to modify the functioning of the High Council for Financial Stability (HCSF). The goal is to revisit certain rules, notably the debt rate of 35%, accused of blocking many borrowers who are nevertheless solvent.
Should we review the rules for granting real estate credit set since 2022 by the High Financial Stability Council (HCSF)? The question has come up again and again in recent months, as the rise in credit rates has made many borrowers insolvent under the rules laid down. A Law proposition filed on January 23, 2024 by Renaissance deputies aiming to complete the provisions applicable to the High Council for Financial Stability and thus wishes to reshuffle the cards.
First of all, the deputies authors of this proposal wish to see an increase in the number of people sitting on the HCSF, from 8 to 10. The two new members would be a deputy and a senator, designated respectively by the President of the National Assembly and the President. of the Senate. This would allow, according to the bill, to strengthen discussions around preferred measures and, therefore, the democratic aspect of the adoption process of the latter.
Banks should be able to free themselves from the effort rate
The other flagship measure of this bill concerns the debt rate, accused in recent months of all the ills of real estate credit. While the number of loans granted fell drastically in 2023, the rule set by the HCSF limiting the possible debt rate of a borrower to 35% is not unanimous. According to the deputies, other levers exist to judge a person’s solvency wishing to access real estate credit.
It is not credible for a bank to grant a real estate loan to a person when the latter’s financial situation is likely to give rise to fears of non-repayment, we read in the bill. The bank will then rely on various tools to determine the financial capacity of the interested party: the debt ratio is one, but the rest is also to live. It may then seem clumsy to blindly favor the first, while the second is just as useful to determine the chances of repayment of the credit by the borrowernote the deputies.
Real estate credit: what does the debt matter if the remainder of life seems sufficient to the judge
The latter therefore ask that lending institutions be able to free themselves from the effort rate rule when they are able to demonstrate that the loans concerned do not present a risk of excessive debt.