Home savings account (CEL)

Any person of full age or under the age of majority can open a CEL, paying the minimum amount required.

You cannot hold more than one CEL, otherwise you risk losing all the interest earned and the right to benefit from the loan and savings bonus.

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

The deposit limit on the CEL is €15,300.

This limit may be exceeded by adding interest to the amounts you have deposited.

The CEL interest rate is 1.25%.

The interest is calculated by fortnight, on 1^er and the 16th of each month.

The amounts that remain on the CEL of 1^er on the 15th of the month, interest is payable on the 16th of the month.

The amounts remaining on the CEL from the 16th to the last day of the month generate interest on the 1st^er of the following month.

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

Interest from a CEL issued in 2018 is subject to income tax and social levies.

Each year, interest is subject to the single flat-rate levy (PFU).

PFU (also called flat tax) is carried out by the bank at the rate of 30% . It corresponds to income tax at the flat rate of 12.8% to which social security contributions are added for an overall rate of 17.2%.

The CEL opened after 2018 can allow you to get a home loan at a rate that is equal to the rate of return on deposits in the account plus a commission of 1.5%.

For CEL open from 1^er february 2025, the loan rate is 2.75%.

The home savings loan may be used to perform any of the following:

• Purchase of your main residence (new or old)
• Construction of the main residence (purchase of land and building works)
• Works to extend your primary residence (for example, elevation)
• Thermal insulation works your main residence (installation of shutters, double glazing or double windows; insulation of walls, floors or ceilings under roof and facade walls; installation of joints or appliances on air vents or openings)
• Heating Enhancement works from your main residence (installation of thermostatic valves; replacement of boilers or renewal of burners; insulation of the installation; equipment allowing measurement, regulation of heating and better distribution of costs between users of collective heating according to the consumption of each)
• Works for the use of new technologies or energy sources in your main residence (solar installations, including solar water heaters, appliances for the use of wood, waste or thermal discharges from other installations, digesters and gas generators, geothermal heating and connection to a district heating network, heat pump techniques...))
• Financing of premises for commercial or professional use which also includes your primary residence.

The real estate concerned may be located in metropolitan France or in a Dom.

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

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

The maximum amount of CEL loan is of €23,000.

If you also have a PEL, the maximum amount of CEL and PEL loans combined cannot exceed €92,000.

You can give in your loan entitlements to a family member, but only if they have held a CEL for at least 18 months.

Similarly, a family member can also help you assign its rights to loan, and you can combine them with yours to get a larger loan amount.

The 18-month period may be reduced to 12 months when you use rights that have been given to you by the holder of a CEL that has been in existence for at least 18 months.

The same applies if you use rights from your PEL or rights from the PEL of your co-borrower spouse.

In the event of death, the savings accumulated on the CEL are transferred to the estate.

Your heirs can benefit from your right to the loan and your right to the savings premium, under the same conditions as you.

CEL open from 1^er January 2018 no longer entitle to the State premium.

Yes, you can transfer your CEL to another bank, unless you also have a PEL in the institution where you opened the CEL.

In this case, CEL must remain in the same establishment as PEL.

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

The procedure varies from one bank to another and the closing fees at your initiative are set in the pricing conditions of your bank.

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

In the event of the death of the owner of the home savings account, the account in the name of the deceased is fenced, but the heirs may benefit from a transfer of the acquired rights in this CEL.

The capital entered in the account and the premium and loan rights attached thereto shall be transferred to the heirs. If they wish, they can be assigned to all or some of the heirs, according to their agreement in the context of the inheritance division.

When the bank is informed of the death of the owner of the home savings account, it must close the account. But the capital and the loan and premium rights attached to it can be divided and distributed among the different heirs if they wish.

Inheritance fees are now capped in all banks for deposit and booklet accounts.

The bank may charge you fees for the steps it takes in connection with the succession (inventory of funds, verification of the powers and identity of the heirs, transfer of money to the heirs...).)

The amount of the fee is capped at 1% the total balance of the accounts and savings products of the deceased. This amount cannot exceed €857.