Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations – Turning household savings into social housing
CDC centralizes government-backed savings accounts called ‘Livret A’ and makes a proportion of these available to fund loans for social housing provision. Livret A savings accounts are available in all French banks; they are popular because they offer an attractive interest rate, tax-free, and state guaranteed. There are around 50 million such accounts in France, with a current deposit cap of EUR 22,950. At the end of 2020, French households had EUR 411 billion in savings in CDC-managed savings accounts.