On September 29, the Ministry of Finance, together with the People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration, issued the Notice on Implementing the Housing Loan Interest Subsidy Policy for Residents (Cai Jin [2026] No. 95). Officials from the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration answered questions from reporters.

1. Could you brief us on the background and significance of the policy?

Housing is closely tied to people's wellbeing. The Central Committee of the Party and the State Council have always attached great importance to it and have repeatedly set clear requirements for housing work for residents. In recent years, the Ministry of Finance, together with relevant parties, has rolled out a combination of measures on the supply side, including supporting the issuance of new special-purpose bonds for land reserves and supporting local governments in purchasing existing commercial housing for use as affordable housing, so as to improve supply and benefit the people. This time, for the first time, the central government will provide interest subsidies for commercial personal housing loans taken out by households with relatively modest incomes, further opening up room for policy action on the demand side: by strengthening fiscal-financial coordination and giving play to the mechanisms of fiscal guidance, financial leverage and market operation, it will better support and unleash the rigid housing demand of urban and rural residents, and provide truly practical help to new urban residents such as migrant workers, young people such as newly employed college graduates, and urban salaried families who are buying their first homes, so that they can lower costs and reduce burdens and more people can have a place to live. On the basis of in-depth study, the Ministry of Finance, together with the People's Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration and other departments, formed the policy plan.

2. What are the main contents of the policy?

The central government's implementation of the housing loan interest subsidy policy for residents is an exploration of ways to safeguard and improve people's livelihood in the housing field. By defining total housing price, housing area, loan category and other conditions, it aims to benefit the target groups as precisely as possible and help households with relatively modest incomes who intend to buy the most ordinary homes to "reduce their monthly payments a little." First, it focuses on first-home rigid demand and mainly supports ordinary families newly purchasing small and medium-sized homes at relatively low prices. The main purpose is to use limited fiscal funds to benefit more first-home buyers in an inclusive way, and to provide interest subsidy support to resident households that meet all of the following conditions at the same time: first, they use newly issued commercial personal housing loans to purchase a first home, excluding replacement of existing loans. The determination of "first home" follows current policies and includes both new homes and second-hand homes. Second, the purchased home has a floor area of no more than 120 square meters. Third, the purchased home is priced at no more than 1.5 million yuan. These conditions are set mainly to focus on supporting the basic homebuying needs of first-home buyers. Considering that income, housing area, price levels and other conditions vary across cities, the central level seeks nationwide balance by taking into account improving people's livelihood, ensuring basic needs, broad coverage, promoting fairness and fiscal capacity. For groups using loans to buy affordable housing and those using housing provident fund loans to buy homes, the state already has relevant policy support, and this policy will not be stacked on top of that support. Second, the interest subsidy is 1 percentage point, reducing residents' interest costs on home loans. The loan amount eligible for interest subsidy is capped at 1 million yuan, and the fiscal department provides an annualized interest subsidy of 1 percentage point. Based on the current interest rate level for first-home commercial personal housing loans, this is equivalent to a discount of one third of the interest rate, and the subsidy period is up to 5 years. For example, for a long-term commercial personal housing loan of 1 million yuan, considering that most mortgage loans pay interest monthly and the loan balance declines month by month, the subsidy policy can help the borrower reduce cumulative interest payments by nearly 50,000 yuan at most. The specific amount of interest subsidy a resident household enjoys varies depending on loan size, term, repayment method and other factors. Third, subsidies should be provided to all eligible recipients, with sufficient fiscal funds guaranteed. The policy starts on October 1 this year, and the implementation period is tentatively set at 1 year. During this period, eligible resident households can all enjoy fiscal interest subsidy support. In implementation, there is no upper limit on the total amount of funds, the budget has made full arrangements, and settlement will be based on actual conditions.

3. What arrangements are there for the specific implementation of the policy?

The interest subsidy is an important fiscal-financial coordination policy tool. In recent years, we have guided local governments and financial institutions to continuously explore and optimize it, improve the working mechanism of horizontal collaboration and vertical connectivity, and constantly improve the convenience of policy operations. In organizing and implementing the housing loan interest subsidy policy for residents this time, the focus is on the following aspects. First, all handling banks are covered, making it convenient to apply for loans "nearby." Considering that commercial personal housing loan business is widely distributed, and to make it easier for resident households to borrow and enjoy the benefit nearby, all banks that conduct commercial personal housing loan business may handle the housing loan interest subsidy business for residents in accordance with regulations. Second, the interest subsidy benefit is delivered automatically, allowing ordinary people to enjoy it "with peace of mind." Homebuyers handle loans at banks according to normal credit procedures and only need to authorize the bank to handle the interest subsidy on their behalf when signing the loan contract. The bank automatically identifies eligible borrowers and, when collecting monthly interest, automatically calculates and deducts the corresponding interest subsidy amount. If the borrower repays normally, the interest subsidy benefit will be directly reflected in each repayment amount. Banks will promptly inform borrowers of their subsidy status through text messages, APP messages and other means, so that borrowers "know where they stand." Third, the management chain is more streamlined, allowing procedures to be handled "efficiently." If ordinary people are to have peace of mind, implementation must be smooth. For factors such as first-home determination, housing area, total housing price and loan amount, banks already have the information when approving and issuing loans. To simplify operational procedures, this policy clearly specifies that handling banks are responsible for reviewing interest subsidy eligibility, and relevant departments will organize joint spot checks in due course. Fiscal departments will take the lead in organizing implementation, strengthen coordination with handling banks, and ensure interest subsidy funding. The People's Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration will, according to their responsibilities, do a good job in real estate credit management, strengthen coordination between monetary policy and fiscal policy, and guide and urge handling banks to do a good job in loan issuance and interest subsidy work. Next, we will closely track the progress of policy implementation, strive to make operations as simple as possible and reduce the need for people to make extra trips, and promote the full release of policy effects so that the people benefit as soon as possible.