Housing accumulation fund refers to the long-term housing savings paid by state organs, state-owned enterprises, urban collective enterprises, foreign-invested enterprises, urban and rural private enterprises and other urban enterprises, institutions, private non-enterprise units, social organizations and their employees.

Housing provident fund shall be used for employees to purchase, build and overhaul their own houses, and no unit or individual may use it for other purposes. In any of the following circumstances, employees may withdraw the deposit balance in the employee housing provident fund account:

1, purchase, build, renovate and overhaul owner-occupied housing;

2. Retired;

3, completely lose the ability to work, and terminate the labor relationship with the unit;

4. Leave the country and settle down;

5. Repay the principal and interest of the house purchase loan;

6, the rent exceeds the prescribed proportion of family wage income. When withdrawing the employee housing provident fund, the employee housing provident fund account shall be cancelled at the same time.

The definition of housing provident fund includes the following five aspects:

1, the housing accumulation fund is only established in cities and towns, and the housing accumulation fund system is not established in rural areas;

2. Only on-the-job employees can establish the housing accumulation fund system. Urban unemployed residents and retired workers do not implement the housing provident fund system;

3. The housing accumulation fund consists of two parts, one part is paid by the employee's unit, and the other part is paid by the employee. After the employee's personal deposit is withheld by the unit, it will be deposited into the personal account of housing provident fund together with the unit's deposit.

4. The long-term nature of housing provident fund deposit. Once the housing provident fund system is established, employees must pay it continuously during their employment, and it shall not be suspended or interrupted except for employees' retirement or other circumstances stipulated by relevant laws. It embodies the stability, unity, standardization and compulsion of housing provident fund;

5. Housing accumulation fund is a personal housing savings fund specially used for housing consumption expenditure stored by employees according to regulations.

legal ground

Regulations of People's Republic of China (PRC) Municipality on the Management of Housing Provident Fund Article 1 These Regulations are formulated for the purpose of strengthening the management of housing provident fund, safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of owners of housing provident fund, promoting urban housing construction and improving the living standards of urban residents.