SHANGHAI has temporarily suspended loans for home decorations under the city's housing fund program to crack down on unscrupulous practices by some estate agencies, Wenhui Daily reported yesterday, citing sources from the Shanghai Provident Management Center.

Since this week, the management center has already stopped offering such loans as more agencies have been uncovered recently charging extra money - usually between 3,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan (US$442 and US$737) - for either helping unqualified clients get loan approval from the center or helping them receive more loans than they are actually qualified for, the paper said.

Mortgage rates under the city's public housing fund are more favorable than those offered by commercial banks.

The interest rate for mortgages longer than five years under the public housing fund is now 3.87 percent while the standard rate for mortgages of the same length stands at 5.94 percent at commercial banks.

In Shanghai, the ceiling for loans for home-decoration purposes is currently 300,000 yuan.

Employees under the public housing fund system in Shanghai pay 7 percent of their monthly salary to it and their employers need to match the amount. Employees can also pay an extra 1 to 8 percent of their monthly salary to the fund and their employers also need to match the amount.