Provident fund loans refer to individual housing provident fund loans, which are issued by local housing provident fund management centers. With the housing provident fund paid by employees who apply for provident fund loans, commercial banks are entrusted to provide mortgage loans to housing provident fund depositors who purchase, build, renovate or overhaul their own houses and retired employees who pay housing provident fund during their working life.

According to the regulations, employees who have paid housing provident fund for a certain number of years or more (the number of years varies from city to city, such as 12 months or more in Changsha) can apply for provident fund loans when the funds for purchasing, building, renovating or overhauling their own houses are insufficient.