New Delhi: FICCI President Rashesh Shah said that housing is a vital sector in achieving double-
digit growth. Shah released the ‘State of the Low-Income Housing Finance Market 2018’ and said that
there is a demand-supply gap of 20 million in the housing sector. “It will take around 8-10 years to fill
the demand-supply gap in the housing sector,” he added.
Shah called for a further stimulus for the housing sector by increasing the loan tenure for individuals
under the EWS category to 20 to 30 years as these are asset-backed loans. The loan tenure is 5 to 10
years presently for individuals in this category.
He said that the distinction between the housing finance companies and affordable housing finance
companies are blurring with the passage of time and lauded the progress made in affordable housing
during the past three years, I expect more growth in the coming 5 to 6 years for the sector, Shah
said.
Ashish Karamchandani, Senior Advisor, FSG said that affordable housing provides an opportunity to low
income households, especially the EWS (Economically Weaker Section), to own a house. He further
added that with a reasonably priced debt, readily available equity, and an opportunity for geographic
expansion, the housing sector would grow over 30% per annum.
Report features
- Rapid urbanization and a lack of planned affordable housing in India have led to a shortage of 10 – 12
million urban homes. Around 26 – 37 million urban households – predominantly in low income and EWS
category – reside in informal housing, often in poor living conditions.
- The report finds that financing of customers with no income proof or those working in the informal
sector is a vital innovation as highlighted by the loan portfolio of 27000 crores for the category.
- The report highlights an economically viable approach to help address Housing for all; at the same
time generate employment and facilitate rental supply. It presents simple and practical
recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of PMAY.
