I have an old LBP housing loan from before 2019: how is it repaid now?

Also asked as: “How do I repay a pre-2019 Lebanese pound housing loan?” · “Is my old housing loan repaid in lira or dollars?” · “Old Banque de l'Habitat loan in Lebanese pounds” · “Paying off a pre-crisis PCH housing loan”

First, find out who your lender is#

Before the crisis, housing loans came through three channels: commercial banks, the Public Corporation for Housing (PCH, set up in 1996) and the Housing Bank, Banque de l'Habitat (BDH)^[2]. The sources disagree on when this ended. LCPS says the policy stopped in 2018, while Enterprise says PCH stopped taking applications in 2019^[3].

Which one lent to you changes whom you deal with. PCH is a state body that subsidised loans written by commercial banks. BDH is a bank in its own right, 80% owned by private banks and insurers and 20% by the state^[3]. If you have a PCH loan, you deal with the bank named in your contract. The full comparison is in the difference between PCH and BDH loans.

What is known about the currency#

The only public statement we found comes from BDH. In August 2022 its general manager said its housing-loan contract, funded by the Arab Fund, is in Lebanese pounds and cannot be converted into US dollars^[1]. He was speaking in 2022 about BDH loans of that time. That is not a published rule, and it says nothing about PCH-backed or commercial bank loans.

For those loans, no source states which currency or exchange rate applies to instalments now. A relative, an agent or another borrower may tell you what their bank did, but that does not settle your loan. What counts is your contract and your bank's written answer. If the bank's figure does not match the contract, take both to a lawyer.

Paying it off and lifting the mortgage#

If your loan is secured by a mortgage on the property, the mortgage shows on the Land Registry extract (ifadeh aqariyeh)^[7,8]. The entry stays there until a release is registered, so ask the bank and the notary how the release is done for your loan. For a mortgage registered for BDH there is no mortgage filing or release fee^[4,5]. We found no published figure for releasing a commercial bank mortgage, so ask the bank and the notary what it costs. Here is how to get a Land Registry extract so you can check the result yourself.

You cannot replace the old loan with a new BDH loan, because BDH does not lend to repay an earlier debt or arrears^[4,5]. As of autumn 2026, the press also reports that commercial banks are still not writing home mortgages^[3,6]. That leaves no ordinary refinancing option the press has found, so ask your own bank whether it has any arrangement. For PCH's plans, see when PCH will restart subsidised loans.