Affordable housing giving exception from real estate loan management

Loans offered by China's banking institutions to affordable rental housing projects will not be included in the management of real estate loan concentration, the nation's central bank and top banking and insurance regulator said.

The People's Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission announced on Tuesday they had issued a notice to banking institutions on Jan 30, identifying projects as related to affordable rental housing.

Previously, the PBOC and the CBIRC established a real estate loan concentration management system for banking institutions and formulated differentiated real estate loan concentration management requirements based on certain factors, including the asset size and type of banking entity. Now they have decided to exclude affordable rental housing projects from the management system.

"This is good for banking institutions to increase credit extended to affordable rental housing projects and support the construction of the housing security system in China," the PBOC and the CBIRC said.

Banking institutions should step up support for affordable rental housing projects and provide financial products and services in this regard while abiding by the principles of ensuring lending activities follow applicable laws and regulations, keep risks under control, and develop a sustainable and commercially viable business model, according to the notice.

The PBOC and the CBIRC said they will accelerate the establishment and improvement of the rental housing financial system, continue to ramp up financial support for affordable housing construction and the development of the long-term home rental market, promote healthy development of the real estate sector and form a virtuous circle.