On May 30, the Yantai Housing Provident Fund Management Center issued the "Detailed Implementation Rules for Extracting Funds for Property Fees, Deed Taxes, and Special Residential Maintenance Funds," explicitly adding three new scenarios for withdrawing housing provident fund: property fees, deed taxes, and special residential maintenance funds.
Recently, the uses of the housing provident fund have continued to expand, with various localities continuously introducing policies to enrich its application scenarios.
Shenyang recently optimized and adjusted seven housing provident fund policies, including supporting family mutual assistance loans, increasing loan support for high-quality housing, supporting livability renovations, optimizing family debt reduction standards, supporting voluntary supplementary contributions by employees, supporting withdrawals for home modifications for the elderly or children, and supporting withdrawals for paying deed taxes on home purchases.
Regarding support for livability renovations, Shenyang specified that eligible contributor families can apply for a housing provident fund livability renovation loan or withdraw funds to cover renovation costs within two years from the date of home purchase. The loan amount is determined at a standard of 2,000 yuan per square meter, with a maximum loan of 300,000 yuan for individual contributors and 500,000 yuan for dual contributors, applying the first-home loan interest rate.
"For homebuyers, using the housing provident fund to improve indoor living environments can meet the demand for consumption upgrades," said Yan Yuejin, Vice President of the Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute. He believes that broadening the functions of the housing provident fund holds significant economic and social importance, gradually transforming it from a specialized financial tool primarily serving the home purchase process into a comprehensive housing security and support platform covering the entire residential lifecycle of "purchase, rent, repair, and maintenance." This requires localities to fully leverage the housing provident fund, maximizing its role in supporting housing consumption and consumption in other sectors, thereby truly realizing the maximum value of the funds.
The notice issued by the Jilin City Housing Provident Fund Management Committee on May 25, "Notice on Adjusting Housing Provident Fund Usage Policies," clarified support for withdrawing the housing provident fund for simultaneously purchasing a new home along with a garage (parking space) and for using it to subsidize property fees.
The notice issued by the Xiamen Housing Provident Fund Management Committee on May 19, "Several Measures on Housing Provident Fund Support for Stable and Healthy Development of the Real Estate Market," also included measures to broaden the functions of the housing provident fund, such as supporting withdrawals for home decoration and for purchasing parking spaces (garages).
Li Yujia, Chief Researcher at the Guangdong Provincial Housing Policy Research Center, stated that opening up the use of the housing provident fund for purposes like renting, home renovations, and paying property fees can help the general public recognize that contributing to the housing provident fund is a personal benefit, which is conducive to maximizing residential utility throughout the entire housing lifecycle.
In addition to expanding the uses of the housing provident fund, cities like Guangzhou, Guizhou, and Zhaoqing have also alleviated the burden of housing loan interest by optimizing policies for converting commercial individual housing loans to housing provident fund individual housing loans (hereinafter referred to as "commercial-to-provident" loans).
The "Implementation Measures for Converting Commercial Individual Housing Loans to Housing Provident Fund Individual Housing Loans in Guangzhou (Interim)" issued by the Guangzhou Housing Provident Fund Management Center on May 26 relaxed requirements for loan types, terms, and provident fund contribution periods while increasing the maximum loan amount. It allows applicants to choose a combination loan if the eligible "commercial-to-provident" loan amount is insufficient to fully repay the principal and interest of the original commercial loan. The required period for opening an account and accumulating contributions to the housing provident fund was reduced from "60 months" to "36 months," and the requirement for the original commercial loan disbursement period was adjusted from over 3 years to over 2 years.
The "Guizhou Housing Provident Fund 'Commercial-to-Provident' Loan Interest Subsidy Plan" issued by the Guiyang Housing Provident Fund Management Committee on May 6 proposed that for contributors who meet the current regulations for converting commercial individual housing loans to housing provident fund individual housing loans in Guiyang, the Guiyang Housing Provident Fund Management Center will subsidize the interest rate difference between the commercial loan and the provident fund loan according to certain standards.
"The effect of reducing home purchase costs in recent years has been very significant," Yan Yuejin noted. He added that housing prices are currently in a phase of positive adjustment. In terms of loan principal, policies such as "both withdrawal and loan" for the housing provident fund provide strong support, and loan quotas are sufficient across regions. Regarding loan interest, both commercial loan and housing provident fund loan interest rates are at historically low levels, effectively reducing the monthly payment burden. Localities should leverage the favorable situation where housing prices are generally bottoming out and stabilizing, making full use of various supportive policies to stabilize price expectations, enhance residents' purchasing power, and effectively promote activity in the real estate transaction market.
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