Customer Story: cycle rickshaw driver, Chhattisgarh

For the past 20 years, this applicant has worked as a cycle rickshaw driver in Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh. He charges Rs. 10-50 per trip and makes around Rs. 150-200 per day.

His son is the only other earning member in the family of four (which includes the applicant's wife and daughter). Working at a local garment store, he earns a monthly salary of Rs. 7000.

Since the beginning of our operations in ‪Chhattisgarh‬ last year, MHFC has served several low income families in the region. Watch this space for more stories!

PMAY Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme: MHFC files claims on behalf of 340 families

Pleased to announce that out of the 1200 beneficiaries who have received a subsidy so far under the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, MHFC had submitted claims on behalf of 340 families!

The Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme provides a 6.5% interest rate subsidy to families that qualify (household income less than Rs. 6 lakh a year, woman owner of the property being bought etc.) We would encourage all eligible customers to take advantage of this opportunity (works to an approx 35% reduction in the loan amount) and take the final step towards home ownership.

If you happen to know anyone who is currently looking to buy a home and is financially excluded, please refer them to MHFC (contact@mhfcindia.com). We would be glad to help them out if they do qualify under the scheme and if they are able to service a loan from MHFC.

Customer Story: vegetable seller, Ahmedabad

Vegetable vendor in Ahmedabad. She has been living on rent for the past 15 years, paying rent of Rs. 2,000 per month.

Along with her retired husband and 18-year-old son, she applied to MHFC for a Rs. 3 lakh home loan. By paying an EMI of Rs. 3,000 - although 50% more than her monthly rent - the applicant will be moving closer towards home ownership.

Customer Story: tailor / farmer, Maharashtra

We receive several loan applications where fathers & mothers financially support their working sons and daughters by contributing to the monthly EMIs, so that these children can move into affordable housing projects after marriage.

We tend to find numerous hard-working parents, like the applicant pictured below who earns his income from two sources - his farm land (where they mainly grow onions) and his tailor shop, under the name "Mayur Tailors". Their family house is located in Chas, 14 km by road northwest of the town of Rajgurunagar, Maharashtra.

Although the 50-year-old father of one has no intention of leaving his current house, he wanted to buy a flat for his son - who is in his last semester of college. The son works part-time and will be jointly servicing our loan along with his father. 

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. 

MHADA Nagpur division to build 20,000 affordable housing units over next 5 years

The Nagpur division of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) recently announced a plan to build 20,000 affordable homes for lower and middle income groups over the next 5 years. The state recently cleared decks for handing over 11 plots, that add up to little over 5.5 hectares, to MHADA. 

MHADA is an automatically approved developer for MHFC. Hence, for housing loans on MHADA 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, 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. 

Pune-based Vastushodh Projects unveils 'Anandgram' project

Vastushodh Projects has recently announced the launch of India's largest affordable housing project by a private developer - AnandGram - located at Bhandgaon on the Pune - Solapur highway. The Pune-based realty company has successfully completed several affordable housing projects, and its most recent announcement should appeal to potential customers. 

The project will come up on a 22 acres picturesque plot at Bhandgaon near Yavat and will have over 2,000 affordable homes spread across 31 modern buildings. 

Some of the amenities at ‘AnandGram - Bhandgaon’ include lifts, community halls, a multipurpose playground, a school, shopping area, solar water heater, solar powered street lights, internal concrete roads and generator backup. Sizes of the homes will range from 249 square feet to 857 square feet, with multiple options that include 1 RK, 1 BHK and 2 BHK flats. More information about the project announcement can be found here. 

MHFC is one of the housing finance companies that has tied up with Vastushodh to provide home loans to customers who are planning on buying flats in this project. MHFC requires minimal documentation / income proof and will be more than willing to support informal sector customers who want to buy a house of their own. For more information regarding home loans for this project, please contact our manager in Pune - Mr. Suraj Pawar - on 8879543963. You may also email him at suraj.pawar@mhfcindia.com or email the head office at contact@mhfcindia.com. For more information about the project, you may call Vastushodh Projects on 9225192252. 

Home loans for SMC / AMC / GHB customers

MHFC has already sanctioned hundreds of loans for informal sector families who are buying flats in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (“AMC”), Surat Municipal Corporation (“SMC”) & Gujarat Housing Board (“GHB”) projects. We plan to continue supporting customers who have little or no income documentation by helping them buy EWS / LIG / MIG flats in approved affordable housing projects throughout Gujarat. 

Below are some pictures of MHFC representatives and loan officers at credit camps in Ahmedabad and Surat 

MHFC would be very willing to support successful AMC / SMC / GHB allottees who require a loan and are from our segment (financially excluded lower income families) subject to terms and conditions. For more details on loans available, please call our branch manager in Surat (Jignesh Patel on 9016507947) or our branch manager in Ahmedabad (Kashyap Patel – 9925045276). Alternatively, you could email us on contact@mhfcindia.com.

Shukhobrishti - MHFC financing of 1 BHK and 3 BHK flats

Shukhobrishti - a PPP between Shapoorji Pallonji & the state government of West Bengal - is an affordable housing project located at Rajarhat Newtown, Kolkata. 

The Shukhobrishti Phase 4 draw of lots for Spandan (1 BHK) & Spriha (3 BHK) took place on 12th May 2015 & 13th May 2015 respectively. MHFC had set up a stall during the event to provide housing finance information to customers who had been allotted a flat in the project. 

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 - Mr. Subrata Biswas (9831433440) - or email him on subrata.biswas@mhfcindia.com.  

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 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).

Poddar Developers - Atgaon - Navjeevan

Half page ad in the Hindustan Times (Mumbai edition) this morning re an approved project of MHFC - an affordable housing project by Poddar Developers  - "Navjeevan" at Atgaon (near Shahpur), under which 1 RK flats start at 7.8 lakhs and 1 BHK at 10.20 lakhs. 

For more information on the project, please see the company's website. 

For financing 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 (www.mhfcindia.com) financing. 

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. 

Launch of Amrita Abashan II - Sonapur, Kolkatta

BGA Realtors, which is an existing builder partner of MHFC in Kolkatta has just launched the next phase of its Amrita Abashan project - Phase II - under which it is offering 240 flats (468 sq ft in size) priced between 8.1 lakhs and 8.65 lakhs respectively). Phase I had offered 768 flats.  

See link below for more details on the project
News article - BGA Amrita Abashan II launch

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.  

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.

Mint Article - low income housing

Interesting article this morning (July 28, 2014) on renewed interest from developers in low income / affordable housing -  from leading developers like the Mahindra Group, Ajmera and Shapoorji Pallonji. With more financing available (from several HFCs like MHFC focussed on this segment) and an enabling government environment, we believe that this sector should see many more such plans over the next year.

Mint Article - July 28, 2014

DBS Launches New Project - Umang Vatwa

On 26th June 2014, affordable housing company DBS (Design Build Serve) announced a new project named "Umang Vatwa" that will be built in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

The project will provide both 1 RK and 2RK flats, starting at INR 4.99 lakh. Located close to the railway station and providing modern amenities which include 24/7 water supply, Umang Vatwa is the latest project from DBS that Micro Housing Finance Corporation will partner with to provide housing finance solutions to customers. More information about the project can be found here.

Customers looking for finance options can contact our Manager Kashyap Patel on 9925045276 to check MHFC loan terms and conditions, availability and  general inquiries.

Bookings for the project opened on 12th July 2014. For more information about the project, call the toll free number: 1800-123-6007

Budget 2014-15 - impact on low income housing

Firstly this is a government that has in its manifesto a "housing for all" objective - by 2022 in fact - and thus there are major expectations of several important measures, immediate and over the next few months, that will promote and support this critical sector. 

In this budget (2014-15), there were some specific measures :

1. FDI can be brought in fairly easily (usual restrictions on min amount and size of project waived) for projects which commit at least 30% for low cost affordable housing (not defined but am sure clarifications will be issued shortly). This will benefit private developers and add another source of capital - which might be useful as financing land purchase is difficult domestically; 

2. Rural Housing Fund (run by the NHB) allocation to go up by Rs 2,000 cr to Rs 8,000 cr. This is the refinance scheme which provides funds to HFCs at a lower cost - while the rates are attractive, and can be valuable in helping EWS / LIG families in rural areas own a home, the issue for most HFCs (esp for newer ones like MHFC) is that this scheme has an onlending cap (2.5% currently) which makes it operationally not viable. We believe the extra allocation to the scheme is very useful, but to make it really effective and to encourage widespread utilisation, the cap should be withdrawn or raised so that it is viable for lenders as well. 

3.  Most critically, and whats seems very positive, but where details awaited,  the FM has proposed setting up a Mission on Low Cost Affordable Housing anchored in the National Housing Bank, under which Rs 4,000 crores has been allocated for the NHB - and where the aim would be to increase the flow of cheaper credit for affordable housing to the urban poor/EWS/LIG segment.

In general, the FM also stated the openness of the Government to examine other suggestions that would spur the sector reflecting that this would be a priority. So all in all, while nothing very specific and possibly immediate, there does to be a general willingness to make positive changes in the sector and further detailed measures could possibly be announced shortly in line with the overall guidance provided in this Budget speech.