The need to improve housing in the country and the important role of construction sector, the Government of Pakistan decided to increase the number of housing units manifold in coming years and has taken several measures in this regard.
To support the vision of the Government of Pakistan, the State Bank of Pakistan has taken several measures since July 2020 to support the provision of financing for the housing and construction sector by way of giving incentives and targets to the banks.
A key regulatory measure in this direction is assigning mandatory targets to banks to increase financing for mortgages to builders and developers. SBP emphasized that banks are required to increase their housing and construction finance portfolios to at least 5 percent of their private sector advances by end December 2021.
Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar Housing Finance Scheme:
In October 2020, the Government of Pakistan multiplied these efforts by introducing the Government Scheme, now commonly known as Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar Housing Finance Scheme. This scheme enables banks to provide financing for the construction and purchase of houses at very low markup rates, targeting low to middle income segments of the population.
Growth in Housing and Construction:
As a result of the recent measures by the GoP and SBP, housing and construction finance has been progressing significantly and a momentum in housing and construction finance is building up.
The banksā housing and construction finance portfolio has increased from Rs148 billion by the end of June 2020 to Rs202 billion in March 2021 .
This represents a growth of Rs54 billion or 36% in three quarters of FY21 compared to a stagnant position in earlier quarters. Such growth in housing and construction finance in such a period has never been witnessed in Pakistanās history previously. Overall financing to the housing and construction sector by banks is likely to increase further significantly as mortgage finance activity under Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar Scheme is picking up pace.
Role of Banks in Financing:
As of April 20, 2021banks have received applications for financing of more than Rs52 billion from the general public under this scheme. Of these, the banks have approved financing of more than Rs15 billion to the applicants while the remaining applications are at different stages of the evaluation and approval process. The State Bank of Pakistan has been actively engaged with banks to ensure that a vast majority of masses could benefit from the Mera Pakistan Mera Pakistan Housing Finance Scheme. For this purpose, SBP with the help of Pakistan Banksā Association (PBA) and banks is ensuring that process of applying for housing finance is easy for the masses and in case they face any difficulty or have complaints, help is provided to them promptly and complaints are resolved in a timely manner.
Commercial Banks have designated 50% of their branches, around 7,700, across the country for accepting applications under Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar Housing Finance Scheme. In addition, all the remaining branches will also provide basic information about the scheme and refer applicants to the designated branches. Banks are regularly advertising the features of the scheme to attract and encourage potential customers.
Establishment of Complaints center for the guidance:
In order to address complaints, the State Bank has established a comprehensive complaint resolution mechanism which comprises of an internet portal supported by a network of State Bank and commercial bank staff. The IT portal is live for registration of complaints by applicants who face any difficulty in obtaining loans.
State Bank has also established help desks in its 16 offices across the country to facilitate applicants in registration of their complaints through the IT portal. These help desks address access challenges of applicants, especially from low-income strata, arising out of potential language and technology barriers.
The Pakistan Banksā Association (PBA):
PBA has also been playing a very active role in the promotion of Mera Ghar Mera Pakistan Housing Finance Scheme. It is very close to establishing a single call center to address applicantās questions and to guide them towards their nearest branches to submit application for home loans. A significant number of Pakistanis who currently do not own a house and are eligible for financing under the Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar Scheme face difficulties in providing documentary evidence of regular sources of income to prove their ability to repay. To address this issue, the State Bank is coordinating with banks to develop a mechanism whereby income proxies, based on demonstrated expenses like rent payments or utility bills, could be used for credit evaluation and income assessment.
