MCP 1ST YEAR

KUMAR VYOMKESH PARAMJIT SINGH KARAN BARPETE SOMDEEP CHAKRABORTY DINI SATHEESAN

[HOUSING MARKET AND FINANCE MECHANISM]

The population of India according to census 2001 is 1.21 billion and housing shortage during 10th five year plan is estmated approximately 22.44 million.Housing shortage in india is increasing day by day with increase in the population which leads to increase in the demand of housing in llarge margin .Problem of housing is more in urban area due to tremedenous growth Housing is major purchase which requires long-term financing, and the factors which are associated for well functioning of housing finance systems enable the provision of long-term finance.This paper deals with the housing market and finance mechanism in India.

HOUSING MARKET AND FINANCE MECHANISM

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................3 GLOBAL TRENDS IN HOUSING FINANCE MARKET ....................................................... 4-8 HOUSING FINANCE SYSTEM IN INDIA ..................................................................................8 HISTORY OF HOUSING FINANCE ...................................................................................... 9-10 HOUSING FINANCE SYSTEM .................................................................................................11 STRUCTURE OF HOUSING FINANCE .............................................................................. 11-12 FUNDAMENTAL OF HOUSING MARKET ..............................................................................13 FUNDING SOURCES FOR HOUSING ................................................................................ 14-15 LOW INCOME HOUSING FINANCE IN INDIA ................................................................ 16-21 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................22

HOUSING MARKET AND FINANCE MECHANISM

INTRODUCTION
Housing is for many households around the world both the largest expense and the important assest. For the all households it is an important determinant of quality of life. According to UN(2005), roughly 1.1 billion or one -third of the world urban population lives in slum. At a country basic level country's housing sector helps to improve the public health and stimulate economic growth. The best housing sector should enables the adequate provision for the shelter for all segments of the population. In 2000 the UN member countries adopted 8 million development goals. With regards to housing it was seventh goal "ensuring environment stability " and assigned UN -HABITAT the

responsibilty assisting states to monitor and gradually makes city "SLUM FREE" .This target calls on member states cumaltively to achieve a significant improvment in the lives of atleast 100 million slum dwellers by 2020. While housing finance is best component of well- functioning of the housing system , to date there has not been a systematic analysis a analysis of the housing finance across the broad set of countries. In fact , as far we know no formal cross-country study of size housing market finance exists.

HOUSING MARKET AND FINANCE MECHANISM

GLOBAL TRENDS IN HOUSING MARKET AND FINANCE

Access to acceptable housing is one of the elementary human needs as well as one of the fundamental rights of every people. In every country, resolving housing issues has political, social and economic significance. To solve housing issues, every country has formulated its own specific housing development program and developed its unique program operating mechanisms. Public housing is the most common development program in most of the countries to assist low and middle-income groups solves their particular housing-related issues. USA: The housing finance system in the United States is both huge and highly developed, offering a large number of products to its consumers with varied repayment options. Over the past 180 year it has developed from an informal/communal arrangement to the most sophisticated and extensive financial intermediation systems of the world. During the 1870s, the first mortgage banks were formed which serviced loans with the funds raised by selling mortgage backed bonds (MBBs). MBBs provided both the issuers and buyers of the security and scale economies in loan origination, servicing, and funding. The turmoil during the great depression resulted in causing three major changes in the Housing Finance System, i.e., the introduction of fixed rate mortgages with longer term maturity and low down payment, the development of a system of direct and indirect support from the federal government, and a linking of the public and the private sectors. The Roosevelts administration (1933-1945) as one of the measures to the crisis introduced two new institutions: The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to provide insurance against mortgage defaults against lenders and Fannie Mae (The Federal National Mortgage Association) to provide a secondary market for FHA insured mortgages. In the 1990s, following the success of the United States MBSs started picking up worldwide; as many as 24 countries in 6 continents have issued some forms of mortgagebacked securities (MBSs) since then to fund mortgages.

HOUSING MARKET AND FINANCE MECHANISM

UNITED KINGDOM:

History: Housing finance sector in the UK was formally instituted with the formation of Building societies in 18th century. The first Building Society was formed in Birmingham in 1774.
Like the United States, the first few building societies in England were fully terminating; they would be dissolved when all members had a house. Permanent Building Societies came into existence in the late 1830.

At the start of 2008, there were 59 building societies in the UK with total assets exceeding 360 billion. However, by the end of 2008 the number of building societies in the UK fell by a fourth due to a series of mergers brought about by the financial crisis.

Structure of the Housing Finance System:

Housing finance in the UK is provided to borrowers by a variety of institutions, including banks, building societies, housing associations and local authorities.

Mortgage Intermediaries

Deposits

Households

Lenders

Covered Bonds RMBS

Depositors Banks Money Market Funds Insurance Companies Foreign and Domestic Banks

Interbanking Lending

Above illustration shows the key structures of the private sector housing finance in the UK.

HOUSING MARKET AND FINANCE MECHANISM

ASIA:

During the last one decade, Asia Pacific economies have made significant progress in developing private housing market and market based systems for financing home purchases. Government sponsored housing finance strategies have become more and more non-viable due to budget constraints.
CHINA:

As land in the country has been nationalized since 1949, initially State Owned Enterprises (SOE) provided housing to their employees as part of compensation. After the open door policy, housing policies underwent a series of changes in 1980-90s. In 1998, SOE stopped providing houses and began to encourage workers to buy their own homes, directing tenure for residential property of 70 years, commercial of 30-50 years and industrial property of 20 years, with provision of transferable rights. Peoples Bank of China issued guidelines to other banks on granting housing loans that led to the full scale development of primary mortgage market. By the end of 2005, the majority of residential units were traded at market prices, and the subsidized segment accounted for less than 10% of the private housing market. Year to Year Growth of Real Estate Loans and Investments in China: 1999 2000 2001 2002 Growth of Real Estate Loans Growth of Real Estate Investment 39% 14% 117% 19% 35% 27% 42% 24%

2003 37% 30%

2004 23% 28%

Commercial banks are currently the dominant lender in the primary mortgage market, supplemented by the Housing Provident Fund (HPF) scheme established in 1990. The HPF scheme, which follows the Singapore model, requires compulsory saving by employees (plus contributions from employers) for entitlement to a housing loan in the future. Currently, HPF loans represent approximately 12% of total mortgage balances outstanding.

HONGKONG:

Housing constitutes an important component of household assets and mortgage loans accounts for 25-30% (approximately) of bank loans. On the supply side, the government runs a large public housing (which includes low-cost housing and public rental units) that takes care of

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almost half of the countrys population. Apart from this the land ownership and land restrictions by the government often restrict the adjustment of housing supply to changing demand. On the demand side, the government affects the availability of housing finance by setting limits on banks exposure to mortgage loans and maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratios. Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation was established by the government in 1999 to promote mortgage loan securitization and to provide mortgage insurance program for the high LTV loans. As there is no government run-housing loan bank in Hong Kong, commercial banks are the predominant source of housing finance.

INDONESIA:

The law of the land in Indonesia regarding the ownership of land can be classified as follows: ownership rights, the right to build, the right to exploit and the right to use. From the beginning of 1970s housing development policy of the government has focused on providing low-cost housing for low-income householders and this is done by imposing compulsory 1:3:6 rule for developers. Accordingly, for every high cost house, developers must build minimum three middle-class houses and six simple or very simple houses. Through this rule, the government provided subsidized loans for low-cost housing through state owned mortgage banks. In terms of sales value medium and high cost houses, which represent just 10% of the housing units, have dominated the market in terms sales value. Many domestic banks and one foreign bank have been actively involved in housing finance for high-end houses.
KOREA:

Heavily regulated housing and housing finance system in Korea witnessed major changes after 1991 due to the interest rate liberalization and financial deregulation. Accordingly, price controls on new apartments were abolished and market based-housing finance emerged and later by 1996 commercial banks were allowed to provide long-term mortgages. In the year 1997, Korea Housing Bank, which was subsidized by the State, was privatized. After a decade of rapid growth, housing banks and commercial banks have become the major source of mortgage loans for medium and high-cost houses. For low-income homebuyers, National Housing Fund (NHF) still remains the primary funding source.

HOUSING MARKET AND FINANCE MECHANISM

SINGAPORE:

Singapores home-ownership is segmented into private and public housing markets. Public housing in Singapore can be purchased by upper or middle income groups and hence it is not at par with the low-cost housing in other countries. The public housing sector is dominant and accounts for 84% of the total households and this is being done under the Housing Development Board which plays a major role in the demand and supply sides of the housing market and housing finance. But from 1990 onwards, the government has taken steps to encourage the development of private housing and the share of private housing has increased rapidly. With reference to housing finance there exist two systems. One is through the HDB and the other one is private mortgage system. Under the HDB system, for the first time homebuyers, the HDB grants subsidized loans or second time homebuyers who upgrade to another HDB flat. A majority of households use Central Provident Fund Scheme, a mandatory social security saving plan, to finance their home purchases.
THAILAND:

Thailands real estate sector developed well during 1980s. In 1986, the government issued guidelines to encourage commercial banks to participate more actively in mortgage lending. Currently, commercial banks and the Government Housing Bank (GHB) are the two dominant mortgage lenders with a combined share of 8090%. The GHB is the leading mortgage financial institution with a market share of 39% of all residential mortgages and 48% of new mortgage originations in 2005.

HOUSING FINANCE SYSTEM IN INDIA

The housing finance in India has no doubt , has experienced a unprecendented change in its structure from its formulation stage. India Housing finance has far moved from a solely government provided services during the 1970's to a very competitive sector with more than 45 housing finance entities providing housing loans of 781,000 million to home buyers across india.

HOUSING MARKET AND FINANCE MECHANISM HISTORY OF HOUSING FINANCE

The housing finance in India divided in five distinct phases :-

Phases of Indian Housing Finance

Phase I Phase II Phase III Phase IV Phase V Before 1970 1970-1980 1980-1990 1990-2000 2000 to Present Government domination. HUDCO and HDFC established. Establishment of NHB Liberalisation of interest rates. High Growth.

1st phase begins from 1970's when the sole provider of any of house building supports was the
government of India through its various social schemes for public housing . The government implemented these schemes through state housing boards which were responsible for allocating serviced land, houses to individual on social equity principle.

2nd phase starts with the establishment of public housing company and housing and urban
development corporation (HUDCO). HUDCO was created to assist and promote housing and urban development programs with government agency. HUDCO still plays an important role in implementing government initiatives such as the "Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojna" was launched by Govt. Of India in 2001-02 to provide shelter or upgrade the existing shelter for people living below poverty line in urban slums. Another important private player, Housing development finance Company HDFC, was created in 1977. HDFC pioneered in individual lending based on market principles.

3rd

phase covers the decade of 1980, which is marked by the establishment of the countrys

housing finance regulator- National Housing Bank in 1987. The era also government involvement in directing various agencies like insurance companies, commercial banks( Under priority lending requirements which allowed banks to allocate 1.5% of their incremental deposits

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to housing under RBI guidelines.), provident funds and mutual funds to invest part of their increment sources on housing.

4th phase is the era after liberalisation and is characterised by dramatic changes in pricing of loans.
Before 1994, the pricing of home loans were regulated by the NHB based on a differential rates charged according to the size of the loan. This policy was amended in 1994 and providers were free to charge market rates for loans above Rs 25000. The fourth phase saw a dominance of fixed interest rates, but variable rate offers started emerging at the end of the decade.

th phase of rapid growth in the sector started after the millennium. Home loan

disbursements rapidly grew during the first few years of this phase. The lower interest rate regime, rising disposable incomes, stable property prices and fiscal incentives made housing finance attractive business. Home loan disbursements grew to Rs 768191.90 million in 2005 from Rs 147012.00 million in 2001. The year 2003 witnessed an annual growth rate of 76% in loan disbursements.

Housing Loans Disbursed by Banks

Bank Group SBI Nationalised Banks Private Banks Foreign Banks Total 1990-1991 479.1 4,192.3 334.5 50.2 5,056.1 1992-1993 634.4 1923.0 82.9 419.9 3,060.2

With the growth and profitability in housing finance evident, commercial banks gave more importance to this sector, aggressively increasing their market share. Banks overtook housing finance companies in the market capturing 72% of the market in 2006 from a previous share of 27% at the beginning of this phase in 2001.

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HOUSING FINANCE SYSTEM

With the growth and profitability in housing finance evident, commercial banks gave more impetus to this sector, aggressively increasing their market share. Banks overtook housing finance companies in the market capturing 72% of the market in 2006 from a previous share of 27% at the beginning of this phase in 2001.

On the supply side, one way to think about the provision of housing finance is to split it into two components: (i) the provision of housing finance by a lender who has ample funds at hand, and (ii) the mobilization of funds within an economy so that lending institutions have access to funds.

STRUCTURE OF HOUSING FINANCE SYSTEM

Currently, housing finance in India is provided to the public by five different groups of institutions namely; Commercial Banks Co-operative Banks Regional rural Banks Agriculture and rural development banks Housing finance companies Co-operative housing finance societies

Besides, above mentioned, there are 25 state level Apex societies and about 90,000 registered Co-operative Housing Finance Societies in the country. These can be broadly classified as: Tenant Ownership Housing Societies Tenant co-partnership housing societies House construction or house building societies

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HOUSING MARKET AND FINANCE MECHANISM FUNDAMENTAL OF HOUSING MARKET

To understand the relationship between Housing and Monetary and the real macro-economy, the housing research needs to develop a more rational and reasonable account of micro market processes. To examine basic structure of a housing market we need to develop a more logical and realistic account of micro market processes and behavior, and it is essential if housing research is to provide a useful contribution to better understand housing's relationship with the macro-economy, a concern for policymakers in recent years. The fundamentals of the housing market have always been the major ingredient of housing analysis at all spatial scales. And the reason why we should not neglect the impact of market processes and choices on non-market housing in terms of demand, neighbourhood effects and the widened choice set presented to households (and vice-versa social housing can influence the competitiveness of private housing) because it dictates importance of markets and market relationships within local housing system. Even though now house building process has adopted the methods and techniques of industrial organization on several levels as a result of ages of so much research been devoted to questions of land availability, yet far less has sought to understand the underlying behaviour of house building firms in different institutional and international contexts their scale, structure, behaviour, plans and performance. RESIDENTIAL MOBILITY On an allied subject, i.e. Residential Mobility, it also draws on life-course theory, though it also reviews a long and established body of work on search, mobility and choice in the housing market. Although here, space is devoted to evaluate the repercussions of contemporary strategies involving discrete choice modeling including nested and other multilevel statistical modeling. And the strong overlap with labor market decisions by household members (and the increased complexity created by multiple working within households) in relation to short distance mobility and longer migration decisions. obility is the engine of the housing market, allowing households to exercise choice (within constraints) and create vacancy chains that allow further moves to occur.

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FUNDING SOURCES FOR HOUSING FINANCE COMPANIES

Sources of funding for housing finance companies include deposits, institutional borrowings (domestic and international), refinancings from the National Housing Bank and their own capital. In 2004, 45 housing finance companies were registered with the National Housing Bank, of which 24 were authorised to take deposits from the public. On a consolidated basis, these housing finance companies reported INR. 85.65 billion (USD 1.97 billion) in net own funds and a combined paid-up capital of INR 29.41 billion (USD 0.68 billion) as at March 31, 2004 (NHB, 2004).

National Housing Bank is Sub-Group on Housing Finance for the Seventh Five
Year Plan (1985-90) identified the non-availability of long-term finance to individual households on any significant scale as a major impeding progress of the housing sector and recommended the setting up of a national level institution. The National Housing Policy, 1988 envisaged the setting up of NHB as the Apex level institution for housing.

Housing

and

Urban
is

Development

Corporation
One of

Limited (HUDCO)

a government-owned

corporation in India.

the public sector undertakings, it is wholly owned by the Union Government and is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

HDFC Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) was incorporated

in 1977 as Indias first specialised housing finance institution. It also offers propertyrelated services and deposit products. HDFC has a diversified and stable resource base comprising fixed deposits, bank borrowings, debentures, bonds, securitisation, and foreign currency borrowings. Deposits constituted around 23 per cent of its total borrowings as of March 2009.

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HDFC Disbursements and Outstanding (Rs billion) Disbursements Outstanding loans 2002- 03 99.5 217.5 2003- 04 127 279.7 2004- 05 162.1 360.1 2005- 06 206.8 449.9 2006- 07 261.8 565.1 2007- 08 328.7 730 2008- 09 396.5 838

LICHFL

LIC Housing Finance Limited (LICHFL) was incorporated in 1989. The

company was listed in 1994. The company mainly provides housing loans, where it provides long-term finance to individuals for purchase / construction / repair and renovation of new / existing flats / houses. In 2008-09, it disbursed loans to the tune of Rs 87.6 billion, a growth of almost 24 per cent over 2007- 08.

Source: HDFC LICHFL Disbursements and Outstanding

(Rs billion) Disbursements Outstanding loans 2002- 03 29.9 77.8 2003- 04 41.0 98.9 2004- 05 46.5 124.2 2005- 06 49.0 148.7 2006- 07 51.2 175.6 2007- 08 70.7 219.0 2008- 09 87.6 276.8

Can Fin Homes Limited Can Fin Homes Limited (CFHL) was promoted in 1987
by Canara Bank in association with financial institutions, including HDFC and UTI. CFHL is the first bank-sponsored housing finance company in India. The company also diversified by launching non-housing finance products like premises loan for practising professionals (venture), mortgage loans (net worth) and loan against rent receivables.

GIC Housing Finance Limited

GIC Housing Finance Limited (GICHFL) was

incorporated in 1989 as 'GIC Grih Vitta Limited', with the objective of providing shelter to all in view of the governments national housing policy. The primary business of GICHFL is granting housing loans to individuals and to persons/entities engaged in construction of houses/flats for residential purposes.

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LOW COST HOUSING FINANCE COMPANIES IN INDIA

In India, it is estimated that in 2009-10, approximately 32% of the population was living below the poverty line and there is huge demand for affordable housing. In India, beyond finance bodies like HUDCO no specialized institutions in the formal sector aid the low- income segment like urban poor who makes the majority of Indias population. Range of Access :

Poor depend mainly on the informal sector which includes money lenders and financial agents instead of formal financing institutions like public sector commercial banks.

The Informal Sector

Poor approaches the informal sector since his sector is relatively accessible to low-income groups. It consists of non-mortgage based lending where the borrower is free to determine the purpose for which he/she wants to take a loan. The size of the loan is rather small with a relatively high rate of interest. Maturities are short- to medium-term, with flexible repayment schedules. Credit providers in the informal sector can be split into personal lenders, commercial lenders and financial self-help organisations. Personal lenders encompass friends, relatives or neighbours and these deals are based solely on trust. Moneylenders and pawnbrokers can be classified as commercial lenders since they provide money on a commercial basis. Financial selfhelp organizations include schemes like chit funds where people can pool savings and obtain loans. Semi-Formal Financial Institutions

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Institutions recognized by the Reserve Bank of India such as licensed chit funds, moneylenders, pawnbrokers and finance corporations come under the semiformal sector. This recognition carries an ability to go to court in case of default, but such instances are in reality unlikely. Moreover, these institutions are not authorized to take on banking activities or accept deposits. Licensed chit funds offer cheaper housing loans than formal specialized firms but exclude the poorest, since members contribute relatively high sums of money. Moneylenders and pawnbrokers use personal collateral, that is, any material possessions of the borrower. Finance corporations deal mainly with clients who are able to pledge conventional collateral. The Public Sector

Public housing finance for the urban poor is accessible only with difficulty. The public sector institutions active in housing finance include the National Housing Bank (which is also the regulator), HUDCO, NABARD (the refinancing institution for Regional Rural Banks), public sector commercial banks as well as city development authorities and municipal corporations, some of which act as financial intermediaries. These bodies encourage beneficiaries to invest their own monies in their dwellings, but do not offer savings deposits. The beneficiaries are granted larger housing loans than what may be available from informal sources. To make housing loans affordable for the urban poor, direct subsidies are granted toward construction costs (e.g., theVAMBAY scheme) and/or indirect subsidies on interest rates. The latter could be in the form of the interest differential subsidy amounts being remitted directly in the HFC loan accounts of the borrowers, so as to bring down their loan liability. These loans are characterized by conventional mortgage lending, feature longer-term maturities and are repaid in equal monthly installments (EMIs). Private Formal Sector

Access to housing credit from specialist companies is difficult for low-income categories in India. The lending criteria set out by formal financial institutions are more appropriate to the lifestyles of the middle-level income group. To obtain a housing loan, a combination of conventional (i.e., assets that can be mortgaged) and non-conventional collateral such as peer

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pressure is required. Lack of mortgage Insurance is also a reason why the private formal sector bypasses the low-income segment. Non-Governmental Organisations and Community -Based Organisations

Many policymakers believe that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community- based organizations (CBOs) can serve a large segment of the housing finance market. These are considered to be more efficient and effective since they tend to have grassroots presence among the poor. Although NGOs have access to the poor, examples of such bodies providing or facilitating home loans are still a rare phenomenon. However, some NGOs and CBOs are slowly becoming involved in this segment.The purpose of the loan is generally fixed, conventional and non-conventional collateral is required,the loan maturity is medium to long and the repayment schedule is flexible. Government Sponsored Low-Income Housing Finance Programmes

The Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd. (HUDCO) was incorporated in 1970 and came as the first government-led initiative focusing on the social aspect of housing and utility provision. However, since then, successive governments have launched a variety of programmes aimed at eradicating the housing finance gap which the poor continue to face.

Role of HUDCO

HUDCO earmarks more than 50 per cent of its housing finance portfolio for low-income groups (LIG - defined as households with incomes between INR 3,200 and 7,000 (or USD 72 to 156) and those known as the economically weaker section (EWS - defined as households with monthly incomes under INR 3,200 (or USD 72). Such schemes provide for differential interest rates (e.g., these could be 50 175 basis points lower than prevailing market rates), longer repayment schedules (up to 15 years) and higher loan components for lower cost units. The scheme features cost ceilings and loan limits for various income groups linked to the prevailing

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cost of construction in a particular region. However,HUDCOs operations for mass housing programmes are constrained by its dependence on State government guarantees. HUDCO also implements the central governments sponsored Night Shelter Scheme for urban footpath dwellers, which includes shelter and sanitation facilities. Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY)

In 2002 the Government of India launched a scheme called the Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (Valmiki Amebedkar Housing Scheme for the Slums) (VAMBAY). The rationale is to provide financial assistance towards improving the living conditions of urban slum dwellers below the poverty line. Importantly, VAMBAY beneficiaries are given a freehold land title to their property, ensuring that the recipients are granted a sense of security. Under the VAMBAY scheme, funds are available for the upgrading of existing units or for the construction of alternative dwelling units. A separate component also caters to basic amenities such as sanitation and water supply. Indira Awas Yojana

The Indira Awas Yojana (Indira Housing Scheme) (IAY) was launched in 1986. The main objective of the programme is to provide grants for the construction of houses to rural families living below the poverty line, including scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and freed bonded labourers. Since 1996, IAY benefits have also been extended to ex-servicemen, widows or nextof-kin of defence personnel and paramilitary forces killed in action, irrespective of incomes. However, this remains subject to the condition that they reside in rural areas, do not benefit from any other shelter rehabilitation scheme and are houseless, or in need of shelter or shelter upgrading.

The IAY scheme does not allow contractors to take any part in the construction of IAY houses. The spirit of the IAY scheme is that the house should be constructed or delivered not by any external agency,but by the ultimate occupier of the house. Under IAY, costs are shared between central and State governments on a 75:25 basis.

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The Two-Million Housing Programme

The Two-Million Housing Programme was launched in 1999 to complement other state sector housing schemes. The goal was to provide financial assistance to low-income groups through formal financials firms. The Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation monitors the scheme. As the name suggests, the Two-Million Housing Programme aims to provide two million dwelling units every year, of which 700,000 units in urban and 1.3 million units in rural areas.

The Twenty-Point Programme

The Twenty-Point Programme (TPP) was first announced in 1975. The basic objective is to improve the quality of life of the poor and under-privileged population of the country. The programme envisages the nations commitment to various socio-economic aspects such as poverty, employment, education, housing, agriculture and land reforms, irrigation, drinking water and others. At the central government level, the progress of the TPP is monitored and reviewed by the relevant ministries and ultimately by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which evaluates progress at a macro-level. State governments make investments for EWS housing through respective annual budgets. Organisations like HUDCO, which grants loans to the extent of 15 per cent of its resources, add to the overall resources available. Refinancing is also available from the National Housing Bank to States, co-operatives and other organisations involved in the construction of EWS housing. Bilateral and External Assistance

Various projects relating to EWS housing and slum improvement in Indias urban areas are underway with the help of overseas funds in collaboration with the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment. These projects are funded by the Overseas Development Administration,

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HOUSING MARKET AND FINANCE MECHANISM

Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW), Germany, the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (formerly known as the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund) and other such agencies. Private Sector Initiatives

Private sector initiatives for EWS and LIG groups include financial intermediation by NGOs, microfinance institutions, housing finance companies and banks. For instance, SEWA Bank in ahmedabad, Gujarat, grants housing loans to such groups out of its own funds and also offers technical assistance to women through its sister organisation, the Mahila Housing Trust. In South India, the DHAN Foundation has promoted self-help group federations that access housing loans from financial firms for onward lending to members. In Kerala, several NGOs mobilize funding from private institutional sources for housing credit purposes.

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HOUSING MARKET AND FINANCE MECHANISM References

National Housing Bank (2004) Report on Trend and Progress of Housing in India 2002, 2003, 2004, http://www.nhb.org.in/Publications/trends.htm Census India (2001) Census of India- 2001. Online, www.censusindia.net Parekh, D (2006), What Will It Take to Provide Brick and Mortar Housing Everyone in India, Business Today, January, 15 BIS (Bank for International Settlements) 2006, Housing Finance in the Global Financial Market, Committee on the Global Financial System, Report No.26 Haibin Zhu (2006), Piayasiri, S.H.(2006), Home Loans- Recent Trends in Sri Lanka, Housing Finance International, Vol.20,4 Economic Survey (2006) Indian Economic Survey 2005-06, Online, http://indiabudget.nic.in Garg, Y.K. (1998) New Directions in Housing Finance: India Case Study, paper prepared for the International Finance Corporation, presented at the Asia Housing Finance Workshop, Bali, Indonesia, February 5-6, 1998. HDFC (2006) Corporate Profile. Online, http://www.hdfc.com/inv_introduction.asp Ministry of Urban Affairs & Employment (1998) National Housing and Habitat Policy, Government of India. World Bank (2004) Real Estate Reforms: Bringing Indias Cities into the Economic Liberalization Program, South Asia Energy and Infrastructure unit, The World Bank.

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