Buoyed by the government’s push for affordable housing and expansion in the market, housing finance company DHFL sees strong growth prospects in tier-2 and 3 towns across the country.

The company, which reported loan disbursements worth ₹9,950 crore in the second quarter of 2017-18, an increase of 50.6 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year, sees value unlocking following the government’s measures to boost the affordable housing segment.

Strong foundation “The government has laid a very strong foundation for the affordable housing industry over the last few quarters, acknowledging the immediate need for India to respond to the huge demand for affordable housing.

“The ‘Housing for All by 2022’ initiative is a tremendous undertaking that is set to positively impact India’s mortgage-to-GDP ratio,” said Harshil Mehta, Joint Managing Director and CEO, DHFL, at a media interaction here on Friday.

Carpet area up On Thursday, the Cabinet increased the carpet area of houses under the government’s affordable housing scheme. In the middle income category of ₹6-12 lakh per annum, the carpet area was raised from 90 to 120 square metres (or 968 sq ft to 1,184 sq ft).

While for the income category of ₹12-18 lakh per annum, the carpet area was increased from 110 sq mt to 150 sq mt (or 1,291 sq ft to 1,614 sq ft). In the Union Budget, the government accorded infrastructure status to affordable housing, thereby opening an arena of growth opportunity for the sector.

“We are aggressively expanding our credit facilities, focussing on developing greater financial awareness for the segment and creating the right products through customisation, to become the preferred choice for home loans and deposit products for LMI customers.

“We have been expanding our outreach specifically in tier-2 and 3 towns that are India’s new growth engines. We are optimistic about achieving about 30 per cent growth on home loan disbursements this fiscal from Gujarat,” added Mehta.

DHFL has 15 branches servicing over 60 locations in Gujarat, which contributes about 20 per cent to the company’s overall national loan business.

Exhibitions to be conducted DHFL’s assets under management (AUM) grew 25.1 per cent in the second quarter to ₹94,089 crore, while the loan book outstanding grew 24.6 per cent to ₹81,390 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2017.

To promote the affordable housing segment, DHFL plans to conduct 100 ‘Griha Utsav’, a unique affordable-housing exhibition in tier-2/3 locations across the country this year. So far, 17 such exhibitions have been conducted.

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