Shanghai introduces further optimized policies for housing provident fund withdrawals and loans.

Shanghai Housing Provident Fund Management Committee issued the "Notice on Further Optimizing the City's Housing Provident Fund Withdrawal and Loan Policies" (Shanghai Housing Provident Fund Management Committee [2025] No. 4), which will be implemented starting from August 26, 2025. 1. Increase the loan amount for green building housing provident fund loans The "Notice" specifies that for the purchase of two-star and above newly built green building housing that meets the requirements using housing provident fund loans, the highest loan amount will be increased by 15%. If the purchase also meets the conditions for first-time home purchase by families with multiple children, the increase can be calculated cumulatively, with the highest loan amount increased by 35%. After the implementation of this policy, the maximum loan amount for families purchasing verified two-star and above newly built green building housing using housing provident funds can be increased from 1.6 million yuan to 1.84 million yuan for first-time home purchase; the maximum loan amount for families purchasing a second home can be increased from 1.3 million yuan to 1.495 million yuan. For families with multiple children purchasing their first home at the same time, the maximum loan amount for the family can be increased from 1.92 million yuan to 2.16 million yuan. 2. Support using provident fund withdrawal to pay for down payment when buying a house The "Notice" specifies that for the purchase of new pre-sale commercial housing included in the city's commercial housing pre-sale fund supervision platform, individuals and their spouses without a housing provident fund loan in the city, without entrusted withdrawal of housing provident fund to repay housing loans, and without any ongoing withdrawal business, can withdraw housing provident fund to pay for the down payment when buying a house. According to this policy, after signing and filing the "Shanghai Commercial Housing Pre-sale Contract," before the real estate development enterprise processes the first registration of ownership of the property, the buyer can apply to withdraw funds from the housing provident fund account to pay for the down payment when buying a house. Withdrawing the provident fund to pay for the down payment does not affect the calculation of the housing provident fund loan amount. The withdrawn funds will be directly transferred to the real estate development enterprise's pre-sale fund supervision account and included in the supervision of pre-sale housing funds. In the event of contract cancellation, termination, or confirmation of invalidity, the real estate development enterprise will return the principal of the withdrawn provident fund within 3 working days to the Shanghai Housing Provident Fund Management Center.