Zero-Interest Loan (PTZ): Conditions 2026

The zero-interest loan (PTZ, prêt à taux zéro) is a French government-backed mortgage that finances part of the purchase of a main residence without charging interest. Reserved for first-time buyers under income conditions, it must always be combined with another mortgage and can never finance a project on its own. Its scope, caps and duration have been revised several times since 2024, with the scheme extended until 31 December 2027.

What is the zero-interest loan (PTZ)?

The PTZ is a mortgage whose interest is covered by the French state rather than the borrower. It is reserved exclusively for individuals buying or building their main residence, subject to income caps set according to the property’s zone and household size.

This loan never covers the entire cost of a home purchase: it must always be paired with another source of financing, whether a standard mortgage, a conventional loan, a social homeownership loan, or a home savings loan. Its purpose is to reduce the overall cost of the project, not to replace other financing.

The scheme has gone through several adjustments since 2024: an extension of its lifespan until 31 December 2027, a revision of the zoning map by decree in September 2025, then a widening of its scope to individual new-build homes nationwide from 1 April 2025. For a first-time buyer, keeping track of these changes is useful before building a financing plan, since the loan-to-cost ratio and repayment term a borrower can expect depend directly on them.

Another distinctive feature: the PTZ carries no application fees, unlike a standard mortgage, whose application fees can run to several hundred euros. Its repayment is spread over a total term of 10 to 25 years, with a two-stage mechanism detailed further down in this article.

The PTZ is also sometimes confused with the eco-PTZ, a separate scheme reserved for financing energy-renovation work, including for owners already settled in their home. The two loans neither share the same eligibility conditions nor the same purpose: the PTZ finances homeownership, while the eco-PTZ finances renovation work, whether or not it relates to a first purchase.

Who can get a PTZ? The eligibility conditions

The PTZ is reserved for people who have not owned their main residence during the two years preceding the application: this is the first-time buyer condition. Three situations are exempt from it: bare owners or usufructuaries of a property (who are not legally considered owner-occupiers), victims of a natural disaster that made their main residence permanently uninhabitable, and people who are disabled or have a disability, or for whom a future occupant of the home does.

Beyond this status condition, eligibility also depends on the borrower’s ability to be accepted for the main loan that must always accompany the PTZ: a file deemed too weak for the standard mortgage will not allow the associated PTZ to be granted either.

The PTZ is distributed by financial institutions that have signed an agreement with the state, which covers the vast majority of mainstream banks. Each co-borrower must individually meet the first-time buyer condition: if one of the two has owned their main residence within the past two years, the couple generally loses the benefit of the scheme, unless one of the exceptions mentioned above applies.

Income caps by zone

The PTZ is subject to income caps that vary according to the number of people who will occupy the home and the property’s geographic zone. Here are the caps that have applied since 1 April 2024:

This income figure does not correspond directly to gross income: it is obtained by dividing the total reference tax income (RFR) from two years prior for everyone set to occupy the home by a family coefficient, which is 1 for a single person, 1.5 for a couple, 1.8 for three people, 2.1 for four people, and 2.4 from five people onward. For a PTZ issued in 2026, the reference is therefore the 2024 RFR (declared in 2025), with the authorities using whichever is higher between this total and the overall project cost divided by nine.

Which homes are eligible? New-build or older housing

The type of home that can be financed through the PTZ depends both on whether it is new or older and, for older housing, on its location.

The PTZ for new-build homes

The PTZ can finance the purchase or construction of a new-build home, meaning one completed less than five years ago and never previously occupied, whether individual or collective housing. It also covers converting a non-residential space into housing, buying under a lease-to-own contract, or buying under a solidarity land lease (BRS) or at a reduced VAT rate in a priority urban policy district.

Since 1 April 2025, two notable changes have widened the scheme: individual new-build homes are now eligible regardless of their location in France, no longer only in high-demand zones, and the PTZ applies to individual and collective new-build homes alike without the additional zoning restriction that applied before that date.

The PTZ for older housing: renovation work required

For older housing, the PTZ is more restrictive: the property must be located in zone B2 or C, and must undergo renovation work representing at least 25% of the total project cost. This work must start after the loan offer is issued and be completed within three years. It must either improve habitability (creating or arranging living space) or achieve a minimum energy performance, with energy consumption below 331 kWh per square metre per year, or the home rated category D or better once the work is finished.

Buying older housing under a lease-to-own contract, a solidarity land lease, at a reduced VAT rate in an ANRU district, or social housing, can also be eligible for the PTZ for older homes, subject to conditions specific to each scheme.

PTZ zoning: zones A, B1, B2 and C

The level of the income caps and the maximum loan-to-cost ratio of the PTZ depend on the property’s geographic zone, defined by a decree revised in September 2025 according to how tight the local housing market is:

• Zone A (including A bis): Paris and several municipalities in the Paris region, as well as areas where prices are very high such as the French Riviera, Lyon, Lille or Strasbourg.
• Zone B1: large urban areas and municipalities where rents and prices remain high, including the outer Paris region outside zone A, and certain overseas territories.
• Zone B2: city centres of certain mid-sized urban areas and municipalities where the market remains tight without reaching zone B1 levels.
• Zone C: the rest of the country, where housing-market pressure is lowest.

To check the exact zone of a property, the official Service Public website offers a search tool by municipality, useful before running any financing simulation.

This zoning is not specific to the PTZ: it also serves as a reference for other housing support schemes, such as certain rent caps or other subsidised loans. A single zone can therefore condition several forms of support at once, which is a reason to check a property’s classification even when the only scheme under consideration is the PTZ.

The main changes brought by the reform that took effect on 1 April 2025 concern precisely the link between zoning and property type: for an individual new-build home, zoning no longer conditions access to the scheme, only the applicable loan-to-cost ratio still takes it into account. For a purchase of older housing, on the other hand, the restriction to zones B2 and C remains fully in force. For more information about a specific situation, using the official simulator or consulting a bank advisor remains the most reliable way to clear up any doubt.

How much can the PTZ finance?

The maximum amount that can be borrowed through the PTZ, known as the loan-to-cost ratio, corresponds to a percentage of the total project cost, itself capped according to zone and household size. This percentage depends on the borrower’s income bracket: the closer the income is to the cap, the lower the loan-to-cost ratio granted.

The loan-to-cost ratio by income bracket

Since 1 April 2025, the framework in force distinguishes the general case from the specific case of individual new-build homes, which benefit from a reduced ratio:

The income bracket is determined the same way as for eligibility caps, by dividing household income by the family coefficient. The total project cost used for this calculation is itself capped according to household size and the property’s zone: a couple alone in zone C, for example, faces a lower project-cost cap than a family of four in zone A. The official PTZ simulator makes it possible to check the applicable bracket and loan-to-cost ratio for a given situation within minutes, without having to reconstruct the entire table manually.

How to read these two tables in practice

In practice, the loan-to-cost ratio is never read on its own: it applies to the total project cost, which is itself capped. Concretely, a household whose income places it in bracket 1 (the most favourable) can obtain a ratio of 50% of the cost used for an older-home purchase with renovation work, but only 30% if it is an individual new-build home. The closer a household gets to its zone’s income cap, the higher the bracket it falls into, and the lower the applicable ratio, down to 20% (10% for an individual new-build) in bracket 4. It is the combination of zone, household size and reference tax income that ultimately determines the exact PTZ amount granted.

PTZ repayment term and deferral period

PTZ repayment is split into two successive periods, whose length depends on the borrower’s income, household size and purchase zone:

• a deferral period, of 2, 8 or 10 years, during which no monthly payment is due on the PTZ;
• a repayment period, of 12, 13 or 15 years, during which the borrowed capital is actually repaid.

As a general rule, the higher a household’s income, the shorter the repayment period: the logic of the scheme is to grant a longer deferral to the most modest households, easing their monthly payments in the years right after the purchase. The total loan term, deferral included, always falls between 10 and 25 years.

Occupancy deadline and resale: what the PTZ requires

The benefit of the PTZ is not without conditions on how the financed home is used. Except in specific cases, the purchased property must become the borrower’s main residence no later than one year after the purchase or the completion of the work undertaken, a deadline that can be extended to six years in the case of retirement, subject to conditions. A home is considered a main residence as soon as it is occupied at least eight months a year, barring a recognised reason (professional or health grounds, or force majeure).

This occupancy requirement is meant to prevent the PTZ, designed to help a household move into its future home, from being used to finance a rental investment or a second home. If this condition is not met, the bank can demand early repayment of the outstanding PTZ capital.

How to get a PTZ: the steps

The PTZ is never applied for on its own: the process begins with putting together an overall financing file with a partner bank, including the main loan (standard mortgage, conventional loan or social homeownership loan) and the PTZ that complements it.

Before submitting a file, it is worth using the official simulator to check theoretical eligibility: the property’s zone, number of occupants, reference tax income and the nature of the project (new-build or older with renovation work) are enough to get a first estimate of the loan amount and term. This step avoids building a financing plan around an overestimated PTZ amount.

The bank then factors the PTZ into the overall borrowing-capacity calculation: even without interest, this loan still carries a monthly payment (once the deferral ends) that adds to the main loan’s, and that must remain compatible with the maximum allowed debt ratio. This is why it remains essential to assess overall borrowing capacity before signing an offer, rather than reasoning only on the PTZ amount taken in isolation.

On the paperwork side, the PTZ file reuses most of the documents already gathered for the main loan: tax notices from two years prior for all planned occupants, proof of identity and address, the sale agreement or construction quotes, and, for older housing, detailed renovation quotes confirming that the work reaches the 25% threshold of the total project cost. It is the bank, not the borrower, that then submits the PTZ application to the state-backed guarantee body: there is no separate process to carry out directly with the authorities.

The PTZ and other financing options

The PTZ almost always works alongside a standard mortgage, whose terms (rate, duration, insurance) weigh at least as much on the final cost of the project as the PTZ itself. Tracking mortgage rate trends therefore remains essential for deciding on the right timing and term for the main loan paired with the PTZ.

Since the PTZ is a regulated, interest-free loan, it does not fall under standard credit refinancing schemes: only the main loan that accompanies it can, where relevant, be renegotiated or refinanced later. It also remains subject, like any mortgage, to the regulatory caps set by the usury rate applicable in the quarter the loan offer is issued.

The PTZ can also be combined, depending on the situation, with other subsidised loans: the conventional loan, the social homeownership loan (PAS) for the most modest households, the Action Logement homeownership loan for employees of contributing companies, or a home savings loan backed by an existing home savings plan or account. Each of these loans has its own eligibility conditions, independent of the PTZ’s, which means checking eligibility for each scheme separately rather than assuming that approval for one guarantees another.

For a first-time buyer, the PTZ is a complementary lever, never a stand-alone financing solution: its real value is always measured by comparing the overall financing plan, PTZ included, against a standard financing solution without it.

Frequently asked questions