Home Savings Account (CEL)

Any adult or minor can open a CEL, paying the minimum amount required.

No one has the right to hold more than one CEL.

However, you can open both a CEL and a housing savings plan (PEL), provided that the two accounts are opened in the same banking institution.

Initial payment

The initial payment must be a minimum of €300.

Other payments

The amount of other payments is free, but with a minimum of€75.

There is no maximum payment amount, but no payment must exceed the CEL ceiling of €15,300

Methods of payment

You can pay your CEL by check, cash at the counter or by transfer from a demand account.

As of July 1, 2023, you can make a transfer to your CEL from a demand account opened in a bank other than the one where the CEL is located.

Withdrawals

The amount of withdrawals is free, but subject to compliance with the minimum balance of €300.

CEL ceiling is €15,300.

The CEL interest rate is 2%.

Interest is calculated every fortnight, on the 1st and 16th of each month.

The sums remaining on the CEL of 1^er on the 15th of the month shall bear interest on the 16th of the month.

Amounts remaining on the LEC from the 16th to the last day of the month earn interest on the 1st^er of the following month.

CEL's interest is capitalizable: on 31 December of each year, it is added to the savings capital and becomes the producer of additional interest.

Interest from a CEL opened from 2018 onwards is subject to income tax and social security contributions.

When interest is paid, the banking institution must first make a single lump sum payment of 30%, which corresponds to income tax, up to 12.8%and social security contributions, up to 17.20%.

This one-time flat-rate levy is then taken into account when processing your tax return and calculating your final tax.

Without any action on your part, the single lump sum levy corresponds to the amount of your final tax.

But you can choose not to keep the flat rate of income tax and opt for the progressive scale. In this case, depending on your family situation, your income tax rate may be lower or higher than the flat-rate levy. You will then be able to pay additional taxes or, on the contrary, receive a refund from the administration.

The CEL opened after 2018 may allow you to obtain a real estate loan at a preferred rate.

Loan saves housing can be used to do any of the following:

• Purchase of the main residence (new or old)
• Construction of the main residence (land purchase and construction work)
• Expansion, repair or improvement of the main residence (elevation, energy saving, facade renovation of a condominium building...)
• Acquisition of shares in residential civilian real estate investment businesses (REITs) (if the account was opened before 1^er March 2021)
• Financing of premises for commercial or professional use which also includes the principal residence

To obtain the loan, your CEL must have been open for at least 18 months, and you must have acquired a minimum amount of interest.

This amount is €75, €37, or €22.5 depending on the purpose of the funding.

A family member can help you to assign his rights to a loan, and you can combine them with yours to get a larger amount of borrowing.

Similarly, you can give in your loan entitlements to a member of your family, but provided that he or she has a CEL that has been open for at least 18 months.

The 18-month period can be reduced to 12 months when you use rights that have been given to you by the holder of a CEL that has been open for at least 18 months. The same applies if you use rights from your ELP or rights from your co-borrowing spouse's ELP.

CELs open from 1^er January 2018 no longer qualify for the State premium.

The closure of the CEL and the recovery of the money is not conditional.

The procedure varies from one bank to another.

If you wish to close your CEL, you must inform your bank and provide it with the details of a bank account into which the balance of the CEL can be paid.