The Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government is finalizing a proposal for a regulation that authorizes workers to use future resources from the FGTS (Fundo de Garantia por Tempo de Serviço) as collateral for financing the Casa Verde e Amarela housing program.
The text must be presented by the Ministry of Regional Development to the FGTS Board of Trustees in September. If approved, it will take about 120 days for banks to be able to operationalize the measure – that is, the first financing would only occur from 2023 onwards.
The National Housing Secretary at the Ministry, Alfredo Santos, says that the initiative can increase the number of units financed through the program by up to 80,000 in the first 12 months after the authorization expires. He points out, however, that the details will depend on the final design approved by the Board of Trustees.
The FGTS is an amount deposited by the employer in a worker’s individual account, equivalent to 8% of the salary. Under current rules, the amount accumulated by the employee can be used in the purchase of their own home in three cases: as a down payment, in the payment of 12 installments (once a year, limited to 80% of the value of the installments) or in the amortization of the balance contract debtor (once every two years).
“None of these hypotheses, however, raises the purchasing power of families”, says Santos. According to the secretary, the change being discussed within the government will allow greater access for families, especially low-income families, to buy their own home.
With the use of the future FGTS, the forecast of resources to be received by the worker with a formal contract can be included in the calculation of the ability to pay for those who want to finance a property through the program. The discussion was reported by the newspaper O Globo and confirmed by the Sheet.
A worker with a monthly income of R$ 2,000, for example, is now able to finance a property by paying an installment of around R$ 450. With the inclusion of monthly deposits of R$ 160 in his FGTS account, the ability to pay would increase to about of BRL 600.
From an operational point of view, instead of opting annually for the use of the fund to pay the installments, the worker would already authorize the blocking of these amounts for the discharge of the installment in the future.
According to Santos, by allowing families to offer this type of guarantee, there are two possibilities: either to reduce the down payment for families that currently face this obstacle due to having a low income, or to allow workers to seek larger properties or in a better location — which can be more expensive.
The secretary states that there is still no decision on a time limit for the offer of these future receipts as collateral, but emphasizes that the negotiation of conditions will take place directly between financial agents (such as Caixa and Banco do Brasil) and borrowers.
“Change does not increase the risk [para o banco], at first. So, this does not impact the interest rate, which remains fixed”, says Santos.
In terms of audience, the idea is that the change will initially apply to families in groups 1 (income up to BRL 2,400 monthly) and 2 (income up to BRL 4,400 monthly) of the Casa Verde e Amarela program, and may be expanded by the Board of Trustees. .
Families in groups 1 and 2 are those that have some type of financing subsidy, a kind of discount on the amount to be paid in the contract and which is financed by the guarantee fund itself. The ceiling for this subsidy is currently R$ 47,500.
The modality that frees workers to use the future FGTS is welcomed by the construction sector, but generates distrust among banks, since there is the possibility of dismissal after contracting the financing – compromising the fund’s future receipts.
Mechanisms to minimize the risk of default, which must be assumed by the financial agent, are still being discussed within the government.
Today, however, the program already offers the option of suspending the payment of benefits for up to six months in case of involuntary unemployment, precisely to give the possibility of returning to the job market and maintaining payments.
The proposal to allow the use of future FGTS receipts was approved by the National Congress in July, within the text of the MP (Provisional Measure) that created new microcredit lines for individuals and MEIs (individual microentrepreneurs).
The MP, which was sanctioned by Bolsonaro at the end of August, also extended the maximum term for financing Casa Verde and Amarela properties from 30 years to 35 years. The change went into effect for the acquisition of new contracts as of last Thursday (1st).
Other changes involving the federal government’s housing program aimed at low-income families were recently announced.
In July, the FGTS Board of Trustees had already approved the raising of the gross monthly family income limits to be able to finance a property through Casa Verde e Amarela. The lowest range –up to R$2,400– was maintained. In group 2, the limit went from R$ 4 thousand to R$ 4.4 thousand. In group 3, it went from R$ 7 thousand to R$ 8 thousand.
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