On 30 April 2026, the bill that was meant to replace France's 35% debt-service cap with a "disposable income" test was withdrawn by its author, the text having been distorted by the amendments. The direct consequence for your purchase project: in 2026, your borrowing capacity remains bounded by the standard set by the HCSF (Haut Conseil de stabilité financière — France's High Council for Financial Stability) — at most 35% of your net income, borrower insurance included, over 25 years.
That leaves the practical question: with an average rate of 3.26% in June 2026 (Observatoire Crédit Logement/CSA), exactly what salary do you need to borrow €200,000, €250,000 or €300,000? This article gives the figures, term by term, with and without a deposit — and the full method to redo the calculation with your own income.
About €2,943 net per month: the salary needed to borrow €200,000 over 25 years in mid-2026 — €1,030 per month including insurance, at the average rate of 3.30% (Observatoire Crédit Logement/CSA, June 2026).
What this article covers
This article puts figures on the net salary required to borrow €200,000, €250,000 and €300,000 over 15, 20 and 25 years, at June 2026 rates. It explains the HCSF 35% rule (insurance included), the role of borrower insurance and disposable income, then the levers that lower the entry ticket: a 10% deposit, the extended PTZ interest-free loan, negotiated insurance. Every table can be reproduced with your own numbers.
The 35% rule: what the HCSF standard really requires in 2026
The framework is set by the HCSF (Haut Conseil de stabilité financière), the French financial system's oversight authority. Its decision No. D-HCSF-2021-7 of 29 September 2021, amended by the decision of 29 June 2023, has been legally binding on banks since 1 January 2022: it is not a mere recommendation. It rests on two cumulative criteria: a maximum debt-service ratio of 35% — the share of your net income absorbed by loan charges, borrower insurance included — and a maximum maturity of 25 years.
| Rule | Content | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum debt-service ratio | 35% of net income, borrower insurance included | Decision No. D-HCSF-2021-7 of 29 September 2021 |
| Maximum term | 25 years, with a tolerance for a repayment deferral of up to 2 years (total term up to 27 years) where taking possession of the property is delayed: a VEFA off-plan purchase or CCMI house-building contract (new-build), or works representing at least 10% of the total cost of the operation | Decision No. D-HCSF-2021-7, amended 29 June 2023 |
| Flexibility margin | 20% of quarterly new-loan production, of which at least 70% for main residences and, within that share, at least 30% for first-time buyers | Decision No. D-HCSF-2021-7 as amended |
| Margin assessment | Averaged over three rolling quarters | HCSF adjustment of June 2024 |
At its June 2026 meeting, the HCSF kept these rules unchanged, while noting that banks are drawing more heavily on the derogation margin: 17.5% of production, up from 15.7% a year earlier. A file slightly above 35% is therefore not automatically refused — but it depends on the bank's derogation quota, not on a right.
Two recent texts changed nothing in this framework. The bill that sought to substitute a disposable-income test for the uniform cap, examined on 29 April 2026 by the National Assembly, was withdrawn by its author the following day. And the 2026 Finance Act (Act No. 2026-103 of 19 February 2026) changed neither the HCSF standard, nor the debt-service ratio, nor the borrowing-capacity calculation, as detailed in our breakdown of the 2026 Finance Act for real estate.
⚠️ Warning: the 35% debt-service ratio is calculated on your net income — not your gross — and on the instalment including borrower insurance. The HCSF, on the other hand, sets no minimum salary: only the ratio counts.
How to work out the salary needed to borrow €200,000 or more
The calculation takes three steps: work out the loan instalment at the market rate, add the borrower insurance, then divide the total by 0.35. The result is the minimum net monthly income the bank will require, in the absence of any other loan.
The formula: instalment including insurance ÷ 0.35
For a constant-instalment loan (the same monthly payment every month), the instalment depends on three parameters: the capital borrowed, the nominal rate and the term. The insurance premium is added on top. The required salary is then obtained as follows: minimum net salary = (loan instalment + insurance) ÷ 0.35. Example: a total instalment of €1,030 requires €1,030 ÷ 0.35 ≈ €2,943 in net income. If you borrow as a couple, it is the household's combined net income that counts — banks reason in net income before tax, never in gross. Finally, any loan instalment already being paid (car, consumer credit) is added to the mortgage instalment in the calculation.
The June 2026 mortgage rates used in the tables
According to the Observatoire Crédit Logement/CSA, the average rate across all terms stood at 3.24% in the second quarter of 2026 and at 3.26% in June. By term, the June 2026 averages come out at 3.12% over 15 years, 3.22% over 20 years and 3.30% over 25 years, excluding insurance; the best profiles obtain 2.84% over 15 and 20 years and 2.93% over 25 years. The average term of loans granted reached 251 months (almost 21 years). Broker barometers publish slightly different levels: this article uses the Observatoire Crédit Logement/CSA as its single source.
The usury cap is no longer an obstacle: for fixed-rate loans of 20 years and more, the TAEG (taux annuel effectif global — the French APR, which aggregates interest, insurance, application fees, guarantee and brokerage) may not exceed 5.29% in the third quarter of 2026 (Banque de France notice of 29 June 2026) — a comfortable margin over the rates actually charged.
Borrower insurance, the variable everyone forgets
The average market rate is around 0.30% of the capital borrowed per year, with a common bank range of 0.30% to 0.42% — and real-world spreads of 0.09% to 0.70% depending on age, health and smoker status (borrowers under 35 often obtain 0.10% to 0.40%). These orders of magnitude come from sector observations, with no single official statistic. The tables below use the median assumption of 0.30% per year calculated on the initial capital, i.e. €50 per month for €200,000 borrowed. It is the instalment including insurance that counts towards the HCSF's 35%.
What salary to borrow €200,000 in 2026?
At June 2026 rates and with insurance at 0.30% per year (€50 per month), here are the instalment and the minimum net salary required for a €200,000 loan, with no other credit outstanding. The last row isolates the effect of a deposit worth 10% of the price paid on top of the acquisition costs: that is the only case in which a deposit actually reduces the capital borrowed (see the section on the deposit).
| Term | Rate (June 2026) | Instalment excl. insurance | Instalment incl. insurance | Net salary required (35%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 years | 3.12% | €1,393 | €1,443 | ~€4,122 |
| 20 years | 3.22% | €1,131 | €1,181 | ~€3,375 |
| 25 years | 3.30% | €980 | €1,030 | ~€2,943 |
| With a 10% deposit on top of the acquisition costs — loan reduced to €180,000 | instalment cut by ~10% | ~€2,649 to €3,710 depending on term | ||
Stretching the term from 15 to 25 years lowers the required salary by nearly €1,180 per month — at the cost of significantly higher total interest. It is the classic trade-off between monthly effort and cost of credit.
What salary to borrow €250,000 in 2026?
The same calculation applied to €250,000 (insurance: €63 per month) raises the entry ticket by about €735 in net monthly income over 25 years compared with a €200,000 loan. As before, the last row assumes a 10% deposit paid on top of the acquisition costs.
| Term | Rate (June 2026) | Instalment excl. insurance | Instalment incl. insurance | Net salary required (35%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 years | 3.12% | €1,741 | €1,804 | ~€5,153 |
| 20 years | 3.22% | €1,414 | €1,477 | ~€4,220 |
| 25 years | 3.30% | €1,225 | €1,288 | ~€3,678 |
| With a 10% deposit on top of the acquisition costs — loan reduced to €225,000 | instalment cut by ~10% | ~€3,310 to €4,638 depending on term | ||
What salary to borrow €300,000 in 2026?
At €300,000 borrowed (insurance: €75 per month), you need about €4,414 in net monthly income over 25 years — a level that most often corresponds to a couple's combined income rather than a single salary. Here too, the last row assumes a 10% deposit paid on top of the acquisition costs.
| Term | Rate (June 2026) | Instalment excl. insurance | Instalment incl. insurance | Net salary required (35%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 years | 3.12% | €2,089 | €2,164 | ~€6,183 |
| 20 years | 3.22% | €1,697 | €1,772 | ~€5,063 |
| 25 years | 3.30% | €1,470 | €1,545 | ~€4,414 |
| With a 10% deposit on top of the acquisition costs — loan reduced to €270,000 | instalment cut by ~10% | ~€3,973 to €5,565 depending on term | ||
What do these budgets buy on the market? In Paris, where existing flats stand at €9,600/m² in the first quarter of 2026 (Notaires du Grand Paris), €300,000 buys about 31 m² and €200,000 about 21 m²; across the Île-de-France region (€6,170/m², +1% year on year), €200,000 corresponds to about 32 m². The national backdrop is almost flat: the Notaires-Insee index for the first quarter of 2026 shows +0.1% year on year for existing homes (France excluding Mayotte), with 958,000 transactions over twelve months, +11% (Notaires de France, market note No. 72). A given budget therefore buys roughly the same floor area as in 2025.
Case study: borrowing €200,000 on €3,500 net per month
Profile: a single employee aged 32, on a permanent contract, €3,500 in net monthly income before tax, no credit outstanding. Goal: a one-bedroom flat of about 32 m² in Île-de-France, where the average price stands at €6,170/m² (Notaires du Grand Paris, Q1 2026). The deposit covers the acquisition costs and the guarantee; the price of the property is financed by a €200,000 loan over 20 years.
Scenario — €200,000 over 20 years at the June 2026 average rate
| Item | Detail | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Capital borrowed | Price financed by the loan, deposit allocated to costs | €200,000 |
| Rate over 20 years | Excluding insurance (Crédit Logement/CSA, June 2026) | 3.22% |
| Instalment excl. insurance | Constant instalments | €1,131 |
| Borrower insurance | 0.30% per year on the initial capital | €50 |
| Instalment incl. insurance | €1,131 + €50 | €1,181 |
| Debt-service ratio | €1,181 ÷ €3,500 | 33.7% — below the 35% cap |
The file passes, with €44 of headroom below the €1,225 ceiling (35% of €3,500). The bank will also examine disposable income — €3,500 minus €1,181, i.e. €2,319 per month. No regulatory amount exists: the benchmarks in circulation (€700 to €1,000 per adult, €300 to €500 per child) are common orders of magnitude that vary from bank to bank. If this same borrower were already repaying a €200-per-month car loan, his debt-service ratio would climb to 39.5%: above the cap, the file would depend on his bank's flexibility margin.
Deposit, PTZ, insurance: three levers that lower the required salary
The personal deposit: about 10% of the price as the entry ticket
No law imposes a minimum deposit. In practice, banks expect about 10% of the price, enough to cover the acquisition costs — 7% to 8% of the price for an existing property, 2% to 3% for a new-build, detailed in our guide to notary fees in 2026, department by department — and the guarantee. According to brokers, the average deposit observed in 2026 is around €52,000, roughly 17% of the budget (versus €59,000 and 22% in 2024). Beyond that, every extra euro of deposit reduces the capital borrowed: financing 90% of the price instead of 100% mechanically lowers the instalment, and therefore the required salary, by about 10%. That is exactly the assumption behind the last row of the three tables above: for a €200,000 property with the loan brought down to €180,000, you need to put together the €20,000 deposit and the acquisition costs — on the order of €35,000 in total for an existing property.
The PTZ, open across the whole country since April 2025
The PTZ (prêt à taux zéro — France's interest-free loan for first-time buyers) has been open, since 1 April 2025 (decree No. 2025-299 of 30 March 2025), to new homes across the whole country, and new single-family houses are once again eligible — with a financeable share of 10% to 30% of the cost of the operation for a house and 20% to 50% for a new flat, depending on income. Reserved for the purchase of a main residence under income ceilings, the scheme applies until 31 December 2027. The PTZ forms part of the financing plan and improves the debt-service ratio, its instalment being zero during the deferral period; the full scale is detailed in our article on the PTZ 2026, its brackets and its zones.
Borrower insurance: up to €150 of required salary at stake
For comparable cover, insurance rates range from 0.09% to 0.70% of the capital per year depending on the profile. For €200,000 borrowed, moving from 0.42% (the top of the common bank range) to 0.10% (a young profile with no aggravated risk) cuts the premium from about €70 to €17 per month — which, once divided by 0.35, means about €150 less in required salary. Comparing contracts before signing is therefore one of the fastest levers.
The 4 mistakes that skew the salary calculation
Mistake No. 1 — Reasoning in gross salary or excluding insurance
The HCSF rule applies to net income before tax and to the instalment including insurance. A calculation done in gross salary artificially inflates borrowing capacity; one done without insurance understates the required salary by about €145 per month for €200,000 borrowed (€50 ÷ 0.35). As for the "33% debt ratio" still quoted here and there, it is obsolete: the cap has been 35%, insurance included, since the 2021 HCSF decision.
Mistake No. 2 — Believing the 35% rule was relaxed in 2026
Neither reformed nor relaxed: the "disposable income" bill was withdrawn by its author on 30 April 2026, the day after its examination by the National Assembly. The only existing flexibility is the derogation margin of 20% of production, used at 17.5% in mid-2026. Building a financing plan on the supposed disappearance of the rule is preparing for a refusal.
Mistake No. 3 — Using outdated rates
The 1% tables inherited from 2021 and the 4.5% rate sheets of late 2023 are still circulating; content from 2024-2025 shows 3.5% to 4.3%. In mid-2026, the reference sits between 3.1% and 3.3% depending on the term, after a slight rise in the first half of the year (3.26% in June versus about 3.2% at the end of 2025). Always check the date of the rates in a simulation: it is the first reliability reflex.
⚠️ Warning: no law imposes a "10% minimum deposit" either — it is a banking practice, not a legal obligation. Some strong files get through with very little deposit via the flexibility margin, but it has to be negotiated.
Mistake No. 4 — Counting on 27 years for everyone or excluding the PTZ from the debt ratio
The 27-year term is not standard: the 25 + 2 tolerance is reserved for loans with a repayment deferral of up to two years, where taking possession of the property is delayed — a VEFA (vente en l'état futur d'achèvement — off-plan purchase), a CCMI (contrat de construction de maison individuelle — house-building contract) or works representing at least 10% of the total cost of the operation. Outside those cases, the cap remains 25 years. Likewise, the PTZ's instalments, once the deferral period ends, do count towards the debt-service ratio: it is the deferral that lightens the first years, not a permanent exemption.
Work out your borrowing capacity with your own figures
Mon Simulateur Immobilier borrowing-capacity calculator
Enter your net income, your charges and the target term: the calculator applies the HCSF 35% rule with insurance included and returns the maximum capital you can borrow, the corresponding instalment and the effect of your deposit on the total purchase budget.
To go further: the loan-instalment simulator to test other rate-term combinations, and the debt-service-ratio calculator to see where your file stands against the 35% cap.
Conclusion
In mid-2026, borrowing €200,000 over 25 years requires about €2,943 in net monthly income; €250,000, about €3,678; €300,000, about €4,414. Three parameters drive these thresholds: the HCSF 35% rule with insurance included — confirmed by the withdrawal of the reform bill on 30 April 2026 —, rates between 3.12% and 3.30% depending on the term in June 2026, and the weight of borrower insurance. A deposit of about 10%, the PTZ extended to the whole country and negotiated insurance remain the three most effective levers to lower the entry ticket.
Before you start viewing, put figures on your actual situation: the Mon Simulateur Immobilier borrowing-capacity calculator converts your income, your charges and your deposit into a maximum purchase budget, at current rate conditions.
