Page 15 - Banking Finance December 2017

HOUSING

HOUSING

NEWS
NEWS
NEWS
NEWS
NEWS

DHFL sees strong growth from affordable housing IFC, HDFC join hands for
As encouraged by the government's efforts for affordable housing and expan- affordable housing fund
sion in the market, housing finance company DHFL
International Finance Corporation,
prospects for strong growth prospects in tier-2 and
3 towns across the country. The company reported the private-
loan disbursements worth Rs. 9,950 crores in the sector in-
vestment
second quarter of 2017-18, an increase of 50.6 %
arm of the
over the corresponding period of the previous year.
World Bank,
"The government has laid a very strong foundation has teamed
for the affordable housing industry over the last few quarters, acknowledging up with mortgage lender HDFC to
the immediate need for India to respond to the huge demand for affordable create an $800 million (about Rs
housing. "The 'Housing for All by 2022' initiative is a tremendous undertaking 5,185 crores) fund dedicated to af-
that is set to positively impact India's mortgage-to-GDP ratio," said Harshil fordable housing in India.
Mehta, Joint Managing Director and CEO, DHFL. IFC will pump in $200 million through

The Cabinet have increased the carpet area of houses under the government's masala bonds that will be listed on the
affordable housing scheme. In the middle income category of Rs. 6-12 lakh per London Stock Exchange while the rest
annum, the carpet area was raised from 90 to 120 square meters (or 968 sq ft to would come from HDFC. The fund will
1,184 sq ft). While for the income category of Rs. 12-18 lakh per annum, the car- support affordable housing projects
pet area was increased from 110 sq mt to 150 sq mt (or 1,291 sq ft to 1,614 sq ft). under the central government's
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, which
Housing demands set to soar high aims to achieve Prime Minister Modi's
vision of 'Housing for All' by 2022.
Earlier this year, the government had allowed buyers with annual incomes be-
tween Rs 6 lakh and Rs 18 lakh to borrow at IFC, a consistent investor in affordable
concessional interest rates. According to data available housing in India, has backed develop-
on the MahaRERA website, approximately 3.5 lakh ers, formed joint ventures and sup-
homes of the registered 6.7 lakh apartments in ported lenders dedicated to the seg-
Mumbai Metropolitan Region have not found buyers ment. Recently, it agreed to invest
so far,. Experts say developers are looking for more $41 million in projects of Delhi-based
affordable locations to make homes affordable. "De- Ashiana Housing. The developer fo-
cuses on affordable, mid-income and
velopers are building smaller apartments because com-
pact two-bedroom homes are selling faster at the senior citizen housing across cities
such as Delhi-NCR, Jaipur, Gujarat
moment. The interest subsidy for slightly bigger homes will help clear off inven-
and Jamshedpur.
tory from older projects," said Rohit Gera, MD, Gera Developments.
BANKING FINANCE | DECEMBER | 2017 | 15

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