Customer Story: snack / food item seller, Gujarat

Very inspirational story to share today - this applicant is both deaf and mute. He cycles between various housing societies in Bhavnagar, Gujarat where he sells locally made food items. His wife, also deaf and mute, works as a machine operator at a small manufacturing unit. Together, they earn an income of around Rs. 15,000 per month.

They currently live in the applicant's parental property with their two children. Soot stained walls and cramped spaces prompted the applicant to finally book a flat in an affordable housing project. Out of the 1 BHK flat cost of Rs. 3.25 lakh, the applicant put in a down payment of Rs. 1.08 lakh from his savings, borrowing the remaining amount from MHFC. 

Customer Story: tent maker, Rajasthan

"Dinesh Tent House" was started by one of our applicants 12 years ago. Operating out of a rented shop (pictured below), he mainly provides curtains, poles and large tents for various functions across Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Wedding season (usually December / January) is the most profitable for the business - he manages to earn Rs. 40,000 a month during this season. However, his income can fall as low as Rs. 5,000 during the offseason.

Currently living in his parental house with his wife and three children on the outskirts of Jodhpur, the applicant wanted to move into a new house closer to the town center. He booked a flat in an affordable housing project in mid-January with the help of a Rs. 2.75 lakh MHFC home loan.

MHFC to provide home loans to CHB allottees

MHFC is currently financing several Chhattisgarh Housing Board (CHB) projects across the state - we are more than willing to sanction loans to low-income informal sector customers who lack proper income documentation / salary slips etc. 

Over the past several months, MHFC has taken part in credit camps across Chhattisgarh - our team recently took part in a camp in Raipur where we had numerous inquiries about our projects, loan terms and conditions and overall home loan process. Some pictures of the camp can be found below: 

For more information about projects in Chhattisgarh, please contact our loan officer in the region - Mr. Shekhar Kumar - at shekhar.kumar@mhfcindia.com or +91 9617660066

Alternatively, you could also contact us on 22660427 / 0069, email us at contact@mhfcindia.com or visit our website (www.mhfcindia.com) for more information. You could also fill out this form to help us serve you better. 

MHFC on other Social Media

Just to notify - MHFC is also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

While we bring in a lot of information on our work in the affordable housing space as well as news and updates from the industry on the blog here, the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds gives a closer look at our work. There are regular updates from MHFC on the latest happenings as well as our work, news from the industry that interests us and the highlight - interesting customer stories.

Blog readers keen to read up more about our work; especially the impact created in the lives of the financially excluded, do go ahead and 'Like', 'Follow' and 'Share' our feeds on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! We would love to connect with you there! 

Surat Municipal Corporation - EWS and LIG homes

Per this TOI article (link below), the Surat Municipal Corporation ("SMC") which is building 11,000 EWS and LIG homes across 37 locations in Surat, has threatened to withdraw Rs. 359 crore worth of fixed deposits from a host of commercial banks unless they provide housing finance to economically weaker section (“EWS”) and low income group (“LIG”) families. Unfortunately, the banks have been refusing to grant low-income people housing loans on account of a lack of proper documentation.

Times of India article

This lack of financial support from mainstream banks and HFCs is precisely why MHFC was actually set up. We have already financed hundreds of informal sector families in Surat who do not have any income proof documents and would be very willing to support successful SMC allottees who require a loan and are from our segment (financially excluded lower income families) subject to terms and conditions. 

Thus, for more details on loans available, please call our branch manager in Surat - Jignesh Patel on 9016507947 - or email us on contact@mhfcindia.com.

MHFC nominated for Financial Times 'Boldness in Business' Award

The beginning of this year has come with fantastic news for MHFC. We were recently given a 5 star impact rating by the world’s leading impact rating agency, GIIRS. Further, we had a full page story on our work and processes along with a customer story in the world’s leading business newspaper - the Financial Times, London.

We are now happy to share some more lovely news! MHFC has been nominated for the prestigious FT Arcelor Mittal ‘Boldness in Business’ award - which will be given out in London on March 19, 2015 (past nominees for the award include amazing companies like Google, Uber and Twitter).

While these are fantastic external recognitions and a strong endorsement of the work being done at MHFC in financial inclusion, we believe that even more exciting and promising this year is that on the supply side, we see several projects coming up - both in the private and public sector - which would mean increased activity at MHFC and greater opportunities to help many more financially excluded families get a home of their own.

MHFC partners with Playtor Lifespaces for three affordable housing projects in Pune

Even though various numbers and studies for Q3 2014 show a relative dip in affordable housing nationally, the city of Pune has fared relatively better owing to its demand for affordable houses. The year 2015 however, promises to be a good year for affordable housing (read here).

Specifically, Pune based Sangam Realty who have projects in low cost housing have announced a partnership with Brick Eagle (a financial services company), to launch Playtor Childspaces - with three projects in the outskirts of Pune namely, Rajgurunagar, Ranjangaon and Paud. The projects have already opened for applications and given the pricing of Rs 10 lakhs (for a 1 BHK flat of 367 sq ft), we believe that this should be of keen interest to our segment, and hence we are excited to partner with the developer.  

For info, bookings have already started at all three projects and MHFC has already started sanctioning loans to customers on the projects. But to reiterate, buyers who are from the informal sector (those lacking salary slips or any other formal income documents) or the financially excluded (who cannot get loans from other housing finance companies easily) and who need help with financing, may contact our local Pune representative - Mr Suraj Pawar - on 8879543963 - or email him on suraj.pawar@mhfcindia.com or of course may also contact our Head Office (Mumbai) on contact@mhfcindia.com (website www.mhfcindia.com).

MP (Madhya Pradesh) Housing Board - applications open for EWS (5.45 lakhs) / LIG (12.31 lakhs) flats in Bhopal

MP Housing Board has announced / opened a lottery of 912 flats in Bhopal aimed at lower income families (432 EWS and 480 LIG) - see below link for more details.

MP Housing Board advertisement

Applications are currently open till Dec 10 (or till the MP Housing Board receives applications for all the flats) - and we believe that this represents a very good chance of getting a home in Bhopal at a price of Rs 5.45 lakhs approx (in the case of EWS) and Rs 12.31 lakhs (LIG flats). 

As already discussed in earlier posts, Housing Board schemes (including this scheme) is an automatically approved developer for MHFC. Hence, for housing loans (of max 10 lakhs) on MP Housing Board flats, but only to buyers who are from the informal sector (those lacking salary slips or income tax returns to prove incomes) or financially excluded (who cannot get loans from other housing finance companies easily) - please contact our local representative - Deepak Sarathe - on 9755333018 - or email him on deepak.sarathe@mhfcindia.com. You may also contact our Head Office (Mumbai) on contact@mhfcindia.com (website www.mhfcindia.com).

DDA allotments declared

Draw  for the Delhi Development Authority's (DDA's) mega housing scheme was held on Nov 25, and the results are now available on DDA website. Per the HT article (link below), DDA vice-chairman Balvinder Kumar said flats will be handed over to the lucky winners only after they are completely constructed with all amenities.

"All payments ... will have to be made online...almost all flats will be ready for hand over by end of December 2014."

HT article on the DDA allotment process

and link to the actual results on the DDA website

DDA allotment results - Nov 2014

Note that like most developers linked to state bodies and authorities, the DDA will be an automatically approved developer for MHFC. Hence, for housing loans on DDA flats, but only to buyers who are from the informal sector (those lacking salary slips or income tax returns to prove incomes) or financially excluded (who cannot get loans from other housing finance companies easily) - please contact us on 22660427 / 0069 or email us on contact@mhfcindia.com (website www.mhfcindia.com) when a loan is required.

DDA Housing Scheme Draw Postponed

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has postponed the computerised draw of lots for its Housing Scheme 2014, a top official said. The DDA housing draw was scheduled to be held on November 17.

Speaking to NDTV, vice chairman Balvinder Kumar cited technical reasons for the delay and said the draw could be held in four to five days - full details per link to article below:

NDTV Profit article

Note that like most developers linked to state bodies and authorities, the DDA will be an automatically approved developer for MHFC. Hence, for housing loans on DDA flats, but only to buyers who are from the informal sector (those lacking salary slips or income tax returns to prove incomes) or financially excluded (who cannot get loans from other housing finance companies easily) - please contact us on 22660427 / 0069 or email us on contact@mhfcindia.com (website www.mhfcindia.com) after allotment and when a loan is required.

New Launch - Mahindra Lifespaces "Happinest"- Boisar

Mahindra Lifespaces affordable housing project - "Happinest" has just launched - in Boisar. 

Spread across over 14 acres, the project offers 1RK, 1 and 2 BHK apartments in the range of 351 sqft to 695 sqft and would have a total of 800 units, and will be priced between Rs 9.1 lakh to Rs 17.5 lakh.

In the first phase, where construction will commence from next week and is scheduled to be completed in a year, the company will build nearly 359 units. 

For more information on the project, please see the company's website and this news article in the Economic Times.

We believe that this is a rare opportunity to own a quality home from a leading business group at a reasonable price within the Mumbai region and will be happy to support customers from our segment who are interested in this project.  

Thus, for financing up to 15 lakhs max on this project, especially for informal sector customers who lack documentation to prove incomes, please email us on contact@mhfcindia.com OR call our Loan Officer for the project - Gulab Patil on 9167220732 for further information on terms and conditions of MHFC financing. 

DDA Housing Scheme 2014 opens - 25,034 flats on sale

Some announcements regarding new MHADA flats that will be available in 2014 - about 25,000 flats of which about 90% expected to be under EWS (pricing expected at between 7 and 11 lakhs).

Times of India
Economic Times
Business Today

"We are offering 25,034 flats in the 2014 scheme out of which 22,627 would be one-bed room apartments." said Balvinder Kumar, Vice-chairman, DDA. 

"The 'DDA Housing Scheme 2014' would be open to applicants from September 1 and the last date to receive the application is October 9. The draw of lots would preferably be taken out within 20 days of the close of the scheme," a senior DDA official said, adding, applicants can also apply online. 

DDA for the first time has also introduced a five-year lock-in period for ownership of the flats, to cut out the middleman and reduce the scope of speculative buying. Interestingly, a senior official said that from now on, DDA will adopt a practice of announcing a housing scheme only when the flats are in "ready to move-in" condition. "Learning from past experience when flats could not be handed over to allottees even months after draws were held, and we faced a lot of criticism, this time we will announce dates only after ensuring that the flats are ready to move in," said a senior official.

Note that like most developers linked to state bodies and authorities, the DDA will be an automatically approved developer for MHFC. Hence, for housing loans on DDA flats, but only to buyers who are from the informal sector (those lacking salary slips or income tax returns to prove incomes) or financially excluded (who cannot get loans from other housing finance companies easily) - please contact us on 22660427 / 0069 or email us on contact@mhfcindia.com (website www.mhfcindia.com) after allotment and when a loan is required.

Draw today for 2,584 Gujarat Housing Board houses

Per this TOI article - see link below - today is the draw for GHB houses across 4 cities - Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot.  

TOI article - June 15, 2014

Of course, these will be approved projects for MHFC and we will finance successful allottees who require a loan and are from our segment (financially excluded lower income families) subject to terms and conditions. 

For more details, please email us on contact@mhfcindia.com.

How to Prepare Yourself for a Home Loan

Link to an article in NDTV (from BankBazaar.com) on preparing for a home loan - very true and lots of good advice (except that in MHFC's case, we dont require formal documents to prove incomes - since our focus is mainly on the informal sector who are financially excluded precisely because of this).

NDTV / Bank Bazaar article - June 1, 2014

Rajkot Municipal Corporation to build 6,284 houses for the urban poor within two years

Per this Express article - link below - Rajkot mayor Raksha Boliya and municipal commissioner Ajay Bhadu announced that the civic body will construct 2,270 houses EWS families whose annual income is up to Rs1 lakh. It will also construct 4,514 residential apartments for the Low Income Group (LIG) of the society whose annual income is between Rs 1- 2.5 lakh. While EWS units will be one-bedroom-hall-kitchen (1BHK) flats with carpet area of 28 square metres, the LIG units will be 2BHK flats with total carpet area of 25 sq km. An EWS flat will come at Rs 3 lakh while an LIG apartment will cost Rs 8.5 lakh.

Indian Express article - Jan 23, 2014

Of course, these will be approved projects for MHFC and we will finance successful allottees who require a loan and are from our segment (financially excluded lower income families) subject to terms and conditions. 

For more details, please email us on contact@mhfcindia.com.

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's LIG housing schemes soon

Per this TOI article - see link below - a package of 1,888 houses is expected to come up in the Vatva area of Ahmedabad. Overall,  4,937 LIG houses in the coming year in various areas of the city - 29 locations - including Vejalpur, Nikol, Chandkheda, Chandlodia, Thaltej, Kali, Vadaj, Vastral, Kankaria, Shahibag areas. 

TOI article - Jan 21, 2014

Of course, these will be approved projects for MHFC and we will finance successful allottees who require a loan and are from our segment (financially excluded lower income families) subject to terms and conditions. 

For more details, please email us on contact@mhfcindia.com.

EWS projects approved in Vadodara

Two housing schemes for the economic weaker sections (EWS) of the society will come up in Vasna and Sayajipura areas of the city. Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) standing committee cleared the proposals for these schemes that will come up under the chief minister's housing scheme under the public-private partnership mode. 372 apartments will be constructed under the EWS category at Vasna while 360 will come up at Sayajipura. 

TOI Article - March 8, 2014

MHFC will of course support applicants who believe they can service a loan satisfactorily but are being excluded by mainstream banks / HFCs. For more information on how to apply, and MHFC loan terms and conditions, email contact@mhfcindia.com or call on 022-22660427.

Shukhobrishti Draw of Lots - results now online

Results for the Draw of Lots (conducted on Feb 25 and Feb 26) now available online - see link below
Shukhobrishti allotment list - Phase 3

Just to reiterate, MHFC will finance buyers from our segment (subject to our terms and conditions). For more details, please see MHFC website or call our officer in Kolkatta - Subrata Biswas 9831433440 - or email him on subrata.biswas@mhfcindia.com. 

Karrm Residency

Karrm Residency (already approved project of MHFC which launched about 18 months back and is almost 70% complete) has launched its next phase (about 600 flats) - 1 RK flats starting at 9 lakhs -  for more information, please see : 

HT Mumbai (Feb 23, 2014) Front Page

Karmm Residency (Shahpur) Website
(note this is currently down - at time of posting)

Informal sector customers who do not have documentation to prove incomes and looking for financing can approach our Loan Officer Gulab Patil on 9167220732 (or email on contact@mhfcindia.com) to check MHFC (www.mhfcindia.com) loan terms and conditions.

Shukhobrishti - by Shapoorji Pallonji - Kolkatta - flats less than 10 lakhs

Just came back from a trip to Kolkatta - visited an excellent project - probably the best one MHFC has ever approved in this segment - Shukhobrishti by Shapoorji Pallonji (in a PPP with the state govt of West Bengal) - just been launched - the builder is offering approx 1500 flats (approx 1100 1 BHK flats and 400 2 BHK flats priced at approx 5 lakhs and 10 lakhs respectively). 

See photos below for an idea of the project (G + 4 building have 1 BHK flats and G + 14 buildings have 2 BHK flats).

The flats are meant for LIG / MIG families (household incomes to be less than 15,000 per month and 25,000 per month respectively) - and there is expected to be massive demand given the pricing, high quality, reputation of builder - in fact over 30,000 application forms (priced at Rs 500 each) have already been issued and bought and there is still massive demand for the forms which have to be submitted to the company by Sep 28. 

This is an approved project for MHFC - and we will finance buyers from our segment (subject to our terms and conditions). For more details, please see MHFC website or call our officer in Kolkatta - Subrata Biswas 9831433440 - or email him on subrata.biswas@mhfcindia.com. He has some extra application forms and will also help informal sector applicants fill this in - but note this needs to be done quickly due to the very tight deadline.