Is Circular 22/2023 really creating more barriers to real estate?

At the end of 2023, the State Bank issued Circular No. 22/2023 TT-NHNN amending and supplementing a number of articles of Circular No. 41/2016 TT-NHNN regulating capital adequacy ratios for banks. Circular 22/2023 takes effect from July 1, 2024.

The leader of the Legal Department (State Bank) affirmed that the regulations in Circular 22/2023 do not restrict the mortgage of future real estate to borrow capital to buy a house.

However, the real estate market was recently stirred up when the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) "discovered" that Circular No. 22/2023 had a provision that was being understood as "not allowing individuals to borrow credit to buy future commercial housing, secured by that house...".

Specifically, HoREA said that Circular 22/2023 amends Clause 11, Article 2 of Circular 41/2016 on real estate secured loans for individuals to buy houses that have been completed for handover according to the sales contract.

HoREA believes that the above regulation makes many people who need to borrow money to buy a house understand that future housing will not be accepted by commercial banks as collateral for loans.

"Thus, Circular No. 22/2023/TT-NHNN does not allow commercial banks and foreign bank branches to lend to individuals to buy "unfinished commercial housing for handover (ie commercial housing formed in the future") secured (mortgaged) by that house itself, so individuals who want to borrow credit to buy commercial housing "formed in the future" must implement other security measures or secure with other assets" - HoREA concluded.

Therefore, the Association has sent a document to the State Bank, requesting to amend and supplement Clause 11, Article 2 of Circular No. 41/2016/TT-NHNN (amended and supplemented in Clause 1, Article 1 of Circular No. 22/2023/TT-NHNN) before Circular No. 22/2023/TT-NHNN takes effect from July 1, 2024. Otherwise, it may lead to bad consequences, causing difficulties, hindering the normal operation of the real estate market, negatively affecting the recovery and development process of the real estate market both in the short term and in the long term.

On January 31, speaking with a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, the leader of the Legal Department (State Bank) affirmed that the provisions of Circular 22/2023 do not restrict the mortgage of real estate formed in the future to borrow capital to buy a house. Article 1 of Circular 22/2023 states that "The house has been completed for handover according to the sales contract" - just a definition for commercial banks to determine the mortgage loan as housing. Therefore, housing formed in the future is still accepted by commercial banks as collateral for loans to buy that house.

Similarly, leaders of some commercial banks in Ho Chi Minh City also said that after Circular 22/2023 takes effect, banks will still lend money to customers to buy houses with collateral being future houses.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/thuc-hu-thong-tu-22-2023-dung-them-rao-can-voi-bat-dong-san-196240131112438042.htm