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Lower and middle income segment housing finance player Aspire Home Finance Corporation (AHFCL) expects its loan portfolio to double to ₹2,000 crore in six months on healthy demand for home loans from towns and the outskirts of metros.
The Motilal Oswal Financial Services-promoted housing finance company’s loan book jumped to ₹1,000 crore as at September 2015 from ₹359 crore as at March-end 2015, according to Anil Sachidanand, MD and CEO.
Four States AHFCL, which started its operations in June 2014, has presence in four States — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana. In view of the demand for home loans from smaller towns and extended suburbs of metros, the housing finance company plans to increase its branch network to 58 by the end of the current financial year from 31 now.
Sachidanand said the average loan ticket size has increased to ₹10.14 lakh from ₹9.60 lakh in the first quarter.
“Ours is a pure play retail housing finance company, which is reaching the small man in the low and middle income bracket at an interest rate which is 2.5-3 per cent above our borrowing cost.
“…We have reached out to customers with absolutely marginal or no credit history. But they have the record of electricity and rentals being paid on time. But are they doing these transactions through bank? The answer is no,” he explained.
Bullish on housing scheme The affordable housing segment is expected to get a fillip following the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana under the government’s ‘housing for all’ plan as borrowers in the economically weaker sections and low-income group will get an interest subsidy of 6.5 per cent on home loans.
The company may enter one more southern State — either Tamil Nadu or Kerala— this year, he said.
He observed that there are 65 housing finance companies in the country and all of them can co-exist, given the kind of demand that exists in the market.
“Mortgage penetration is only at 9 per cent of gross domestic product. So, there are a lot of opportunities and catchment areas for new players to move in,” said Sachidanand.
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