The Bank of Portugal (BdP) made it known this Monday that it has issued new macroprudential recommendations on home loans, which should come into force from 1 April this year.

This time, the Mário Centeno team defined that new loans for the purchase of a house will have a maximum maturity of 40 years for bank customers aged 30 years or less, while contracts with customers between 30 and 35 years will have a maximum term of 37 years. For borrowers over the age of 35, the maximum maturity of the bank's financing drops to 35 years.

"In view of the convergence of the average maturity of new mortgage loan contracts for 30 years until the end of 2022, Banco de Portugal, in its capacity as Macroprudential Authority and by deliberation of the Board of Directors of 25 January 2022, recommends new limits to the maximum maturity of new housing credit operations depending on the age of the borrowers", reads the statement from the banking regulator.

These are recommendations that will have to be complied with, as banks that do not respect the defined limits will have to explain themselves to the BdP, according to the same statement. For families looking for a mortgage to buy a house, the age of the oldest member of the household will count.

Font:DN