Posted Sep 28, 2022 5:27 PMUpdated on Sep 28, 2022 at 6:16 PM
Brokers and banks will uncork the champagne. At 1er October, the new usury rate – that is to say the maximum rate at which a bank can grant a loan – will show a historic increase: for mortgages with a duration of more than 20 years, it will go from 2.57% to 3.05%. For loans less than 20 years old, it will drop from 2.60% to 3.03%. In both cases, an increase of more than 40 basis points.
“The application of the formula provided for by law, i.e. 4/3 of the average rates applied, indeed leads to a well-proportioned and more marked increase than last June, underlines the Banque de France in a press release published on Wednesday. . This will make it possible to settle certain more difficult situations of access to credit noted in recent weeks. »
For several months, banks and more particularly brokers have been denouncing the risk posed by the rate of wear and tear on individuals’ access to property. This rate is in fact recalculated every three months, while the rates actually charged by the banks go up more quickly and continuously. The rise of 17 basis points last June did not reassure them, leading more and more professionals to call for a revision of the method of calculation.
Do not change the calculation formula
But for the Banque de France, this new increase underlines the robustness of the formula. “As the Governor indicated to the Finance Committee of the National Assembly on September 27, an exceptional increase in usury rates – the role of which is to protect borrowers – is neither desirable nor necessary”, specifies the institution. A position shared by Bercy, she adds. The Ministry of the Economy had asked the banks to make an effort so that the files pass.
Last week, disgruntled credit brokers staged an unprecedented protest outside the doors of the Banque de France. Governor François Villeroy de Galhau had finally welcomed them, although his institution disputes the reality of the market blockage: the Banque de France has not observed any drop in mortgage loans so far, despite alerts from brokers.
For individuals who were blocked by the wear rate, this increase is good news. However, it will also generate a mechanical increase on the whole market. As Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy, pointed out in an interview at the end of August, those who “demand an additional increase in the rate of wear and tear are those who want to be able to lend more to the French”.
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