The rate of remuneration of housing savings plans (PEL) signed from next January will double to reach 2%, the first increase in 22 years, announced this Thursday, December 8 the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
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Minister Bruno Le Maire “announces the revaluation to 2%, against 1% today, of home savings plans (PEL) open from January 1, 2023”says a press release from Bercy. “This is new support for French savings after the rise in Livret A rates” at 2% since August 1, completes Bruno Le Maire, quoted in the press release.
The sequel after the ad
The PEL is a hybrid product: it is used to build up savings for the purchase of real estate or the carrying out of work, then to finance this project. It therefore displays two rates. A first defining the remuneration of the savings deposited there (1% gross since August 1, 2016) and a second blocking a borrowing rate, 1.20 points higher (since February 1, 2015), for the 15 years to come.
First increase in 22 years
At the end of 2021, the number of PELs stood at 12.2 million, according to data from the Banque de France, for a total outstanding amount of 296.1 billion euros. It is moreover “the first increase in the PEL rate for 22 years”says the ministry.
The new rate will only concern PELs opened in 2023. Unlike those of other regulated products such as the Livret A, the rates of a PEL remain those in effect on the day of signature, allowing the holder to ” to block “ a rate. “At 2%, the PEL rate remains unattractive, especially since this product is subject to compulsory levies”reacted Philippe Crevel, director of the Cercle de l’Epargne.
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The Minister followed the recommendation of the Governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, in charge of calculating the new rate each year no later than December 5. Thanks to their borrowing rate at 2.20%, PELs signed before the end of 2022 could also become attractive for financing medium-term credit.
Since the beginning of the year, the real estate market has been confronted with a rapid rise in borrowing rates, in the wake of the key rates of the European Central Bank (ECB): from 1.10% on average at the end of last December to 1. 84% expected in November, at the latest score from the Banque de France.
