Shanghai: Optimizing Housing Provident Fund Policies

On February 25, the Shanghai Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Administration and four other departments jointly issued the "Notice on Further Optimizing and Adjusting the Local Real Estate Policies", which will take effect from February 26, 2026. To harness the role of housing provident fund in supporting housing consumption and meet the livable and affordable housing needs of depositors at different stages, the Notice stipulates optimized housing provident fund policies. Firstly, the maximum housing provident fund loan amount will be moderately increased. The maximum amount of housing provident fund loans for depositors purchasing their first home has been raised from 1.6 million yuan to 2.4 million yuan, with additional policies allowing for higher loan amounts for families with multiple children and those purchasing green buildings. In this city, the maximum housing provident fund family loan amount can reach up to 3.24 million yuan. The maximum loan amount for purchasing a second home will also be correspondingly increased. Secondly, the recognition of the number of loans will be optimized. For local depositors who have already used housing provident fund loans and do not own a home in this city, or only own one home, and have already paid off their housing provident fund loan, they can apply for a new housing provident fund loan when purchasing a new home in this city. Thirdly, the support for families with multiple children in purchasing a home will be expanded. The applicability of housing provident fund loan support policy will be expanded from purchasing the first home to purchasing the second home. That is, for families with multiple children purchasing a second home, the maximum loan amount will be increased by 20% on top of the local maximum loan amount.