Loans against saving funds
The use of loans allocated against savings funds has varied over history to support the changing needs of society. Its goal has not changed: to finance the public interest. Today, social housing and urban renewal are the main beneficiaries, alongside transport infrastructures, hospital property and sewage treatment.
All types of financing included, Caisse des Dépôts granted loans totalling more than €16bn against savings funds in 2008.
Energie Performance is a loan to finance the cost overrun associated with energy-saving construction work in social housing. It has a twin objective: to help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector and tenants' energy bills.
Loans for social housing and urban renewal
More than one person in six in France today is housed in the social housing sector, which is made up of 4.5 million dwellings.
The national initiative in favour of housing for populations on average and modest incomes depends very largely on loans made by Caisse des Dépôts against savings funds.
They finance the construction and upgrading of these dwellings, and urban renewal schemes, with very high annual loan volumes (8.5bn in 2008) granted to construction organisations and social landlords.
Two major characteristics: margin-free, very long-term loans
Loans granted by Caisse des Dépôts share two major characteristics: they are most often granted at the cost of the resource or even lower for very long periods (32 years on average, and up to 60 years, for land purchases for example).
These special financial conditions are essential on the one hand to allow social housing bodies to balance their books, and on the other hand to allow their tenants to benefit from rent levels which are substantially lower than the market rate, in other words compatible with the social purpose of the dwellings financed. Such a mechanism has no equivalent in "conventional" financial circles.
The range of loans made by Caisse des Dépôts against savings funds concerns the whole social housing chain and its environment:
- stock growth (construction and acquisition);
- improvements to old housing stock, particularly to make buildings more energy efficient;
- urban renewal (demolition and reconstruction of dwellings and urban development);
- interim housing;
- accommodation for populations in difficulty, etc.
The use of savings funds in the economic relaunch programme
Caisse des Dépôts is committing all its strengths to participate in the fight against the economic and financial crisis. At the end of 2008 it offered measures tailored to the financing needs of the economy in this context.
Savings funds released nearly €43bn in liquidities in total:
- €18bn to finance SME;
- €8bn in loans for large facilities (2009-2013);
- €7bn in loans released for social housing;
- €5bn for French banks;
- €5bn for local authorities.
Other funding against savings funds
Caisse des Dépôts adapts to meet the country's pressing needs. Recently, savings funds have started funding three new sectors in which needs are very great: transport infrastructures, hospital property and sewage treatment.
After a first budget of €4bn of loans over the 2004-2008 period, a new budget of €8bn was approved in 2009 to finance large infrastructures and public transport networks with dedicated rights of way (tramways, bus lanes, metros, etc.). It finances, alongside local authorities, new high-speed links, port facilities and tram network construction or extension projects.
A new set of loans was also approved in 2008 to finance the Hospital 2012 plan, which involves the modernisation of buildings and facilities in the public and private hospital sector. Caisse des Dépôts can approve up to €2bn of preferential loans against savings funds.
Lastly, a €2bn set of loans was approved in early 2008 to finance upgrading work to meet Community directives governing sewage treatment plants.
Caisse des Dépôts also refinances, at a preferential rate via centralised sustainable development savings account funds, financial institutions specialising in credit to small and medium companies, particularly OSEO.
