The PEL rate will go up on January 1, 2023. It’s mechanical. Good news? Obviously. But the rate of the associated housing savings loan will also go up. What you need to know about the current 1% PEL and its blocked loan at 2.20%… before making a hasty decision.
With the upcoming increase in the yield of the housing savings plan (PEL), some will be tempted to break their PEL yielding 1% to open a 2% one, the probable rate of return on January 1, 2023. But this plan is and remains a product of housing savings, which opens the right to a PEL loan. However, the lower the remuneration of the plan, the lower the maximum rate of credit obtained via this device. Clear: a credit of 2.20% maximum for all those who have a PEL paid at 1%. This 2.20% credit rate is nothing short of a godsend… but it is locked in for the long term. With the current rise in real estate rates, setting up an option on a 2.20% loan is not meaningless.
So, should you paradoxically rush above all not to break your PEL to keep this option? Or even rush you to open a 1% remunr PEL, just to put an option on this 2.20% credit? Not so sure… What you need to know about this PEL loan which is not a godsend for everyone.
Who can borrow 2.20%?
All those who have a PEL paid at 1% (gross, i.e. 0.70% net of all taxes). This rate of 2.20% is the ceiling at which banks can grant a PEL loan to holders of plans remunerated at 1%. The difference between the return on savings and the borrowing rate corresponds to the management fees and financial charges, which are set at a maximum of 1.20% for the most recent plans, and 1.70% before January 2015. Here are the maximum rates of housing savings loans to which the plans opened during the last decade entitle.
| If you opened it… | Return on savings | PEL loan rate |
|---|---|---|
| … before February 2015 * | 2.50% | 4.20% |
| … before February 2016 | 2% | 3.20% |
| … before August 2016 | 1.50% | 2.70% |
| … since August 2016 | 1% | 2.20% |
* Plans opened between August 2003 and January 2015.
The remuneration of the oldest PEL is even higher.
When can you borrow 2.20%?
Not immediately if you have just opened this 1% PEL. It’s necessary wait for the 3 years of the plan to be able to take advantage of the loan rights of the PEL. Clearly, if you have a PEL paid at 1%, you can only break it now, for a property or work loan, if you opened it in 2019 or before. Once past this 3-year milestone, the PEL loan is available when it suits you.
How much will you be able to borrow 2.20%?
Ah. This is where bt hurts. The amount you can borrow depends on the interest generated during the life of the PEL…
In detail, your ready rights (which you will theoretically find on your statement) correspond to the gross interest already generated thanks to your plan at the time of its last anniversary. You must then multiply these loan rights by a coefficient of 2.5 (or 1.5 to finance the purchase of SCPIs), which gives the total loan interest to which you are entitled… which will allow you to know the possible amount of credit (1)amount which will vary according to the duration of repayment chosen (2 15 years).
Find the lowest rate for your real estate project!
Child’s play? Of course not! Patrick Cuvilliers, head of real estate credit at LCL, himself refers to a complex regulation calculation… To find out the amount that can be financed with your PEL loan, you can use the or simply ask your bank.
Example. You opened a PEL with 10,000 euros in 2018, then you have around 50 euros each month. In 2022, therefore 4 years later, as detailed in our , your savings will reach 12,666 euros, for 12,350 euros in payments and 452 euros in gross interest (316 euros in net interest after flat tax). Your loan fees are 452 euros (451.51 to be exact). If you use the calculator, this time you get the financeable amount according to the repayment period chosen: 44,301 euros reimbursed over 5 years22,152 euros reimbursed over 10 years or 14,689 euros reimbursed over 15 yearsat the rate of 2.20% excluding insurance regardless of the duration.
To date, it is possible to find better with a real estate loan or classic work loan, without going through the PEL loan… Keeping a recent PEL for a loan therefore remains a challenge, if you think that useful in a few months and if borrowing rates have risen again by then.
The monthly barometer of real estate rates
Who can also benefit from a bonus of 1000 or 1525 euros maximum?
Only those who opened their PEL before January 1, 2018. Since then, state bonuses have been abolished. But beware, again, the premium of 1000 euros (or 1525 euros for green housing) is a maximum, and you must necessarily get a PEL loan of at least 5000 euros to obtain this bonus.
Example. Let’s stay on a 1% open PEL with 10,000 euros and 50 euros in monthly payments. This time you subscribed to it exactly 6 years ago, in 2016. Our announces a plan that has risen to 14,147 euros thanks to tax-exempt payments and interest. Possible premium, after social security contributions: 597 euros, condition of obtaining the PEL loan.
Housing savings plan: can I get the 1000 euros bonus again?
Are some 1% PELs more interesting than others?
Yes. A 1% PEL opened in 2016 or 2017 is more interesting than all plans opened since January 1, 2018, which are clearly the least advantageous of all generations of PEL. For the prospect of the state bonus, dj (see above). For the taxation of annual interest, too: those opened in 2016 and 2017 are only subject to social security contributions (17.2%) and not yet to income tax. That is a net yield of 0.83% against 0.70% for the more recent plans. This is not a sufficient argument, however, to keep this placement odds and ends.
Is your bank forced to grant you your PEL loan?
No. And this is the weak point of this device. The granting of this loan, even payment, remains subject to the acceptance of your file by the bank. Thus, several testimonies received by MoneyVox show that banks are cautious about PEL loans entitling them to a state bonus. And that you then engage in a real obstacle course, to use the words of Jolle, a reader who won her case but who regrets having embarked on this operation given the low sums involved.
All the details and subtleties of the ELP
(1) Ultimate subtlety: the rate used to know the financeable amount credited is the one used during the savings phase, so 1% and not 2.20%. Doing the math yourself is tricky as this forum thread illustrates. It is advisable to use a simulator or that of your bank.