Even though at the end of 2024, almost all bank scales are trending downward, by 0.10 to 0.30 points, reflecting the desire of banking institutions to end 2024 well, according to VousFinancer, a mortgage broker, buying is still a path strewn with pitfalls. Especially for first-time buyers. Rates are around 3.40% over 15 years, 3.60% over 20 years and 3.80% over 25 years.
The French Building Federation (FFB) is proposing to launch a new loan, at a preferential rate, for those buying for the first time, reports Capital . The rate of this loan would be 1.5% or even 2% lower than the average market rate. If this preferential rate loan (PTP) were set up today, it would be around 1.90% or even 1.80%. The State would cover the difference between the PTP interest rate and the average market rate. It would be a loan aided by the State, a mechanism similar to the zero-rate loan, PTZ.Today, the real difficulty we encounter with new construction, the vector of first-time access, is the problem of the personal contribution“, explains Loïc Chapeaux, director of economic affairs at the FFB, FigaroThe FFB is leading a fight in favour of first-time buyers only because second-time buyers sell their homes and thus benefit from a contribution to buy another property, which is not the case for first-time buyers.
A return of zero-rate loans for homes?
The FFB is campaigning above all for a return of the PTZ for the purchase of a single-family home. Remember that only apartments are currently eligible for the PTZ. In addition, only certain areas are concerned by the PTZ, the so-called tense areas, where demand is greater than supply. The French Building Federation wants to remove this distinction between tense and non-tense areas, for the PTZ to be standardized and if the cost of this expansion is too high, replace the PTZ with a low-rate loan.
«One way to build up a personal contribution is a zero-rate loan. Thanks to the deferred payments, you don’t have to repay the loan straight away. This in fact constitutes a quasi-personal contribution in the calculation made by the banks.“, explains Loïc Chapeaux. He shows himself ready to “accept that it is no longer a zero rate but a preferential rate to obtain long deferred payments. The PTZ system as it exists today is not of great interest. We can accept that it is a little more expensive but in return, we must give the ability to buy“. The average length of time a first-time buyer owns a home is 7 to 8 years, so a 10-year deferral means that the repayment will only be made at the time of sale. The FFB’s objective is therefore to have one of these two proposals adopted in the 2025 finance bill, which will be presented to the Council of Ministers at the end of September.
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