Against the milieu of rapid urbanisation and a changing socio-economic scenario, the demand for housing has grown explosively. The importance of the housing sector in the economy can be illustrated by a few key statistics. According to the National Building Organisation (NBO), the total demand for housing is estimated at 2 million units per year and the total housing shortfall is estimated to be 19.4 million units, of which 12.76 million units is from rural areas and 6.64 million units from urban areas. The housing industry is the second largest employment generator in the country. It is estimated that the budgeted 2 million units would lead to the creation of an additional 10 million man-years of direct employment and another 15 million man-years of indirect employment.

Having identified housing as a priority area in the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002), the National Housing Policy has envisaged an investment target of Rs. 1,500 billion for this sector. In order to achieve this investment target, the Government needs to make low cost funds easily available and enforce legal and regulatory reforms.

HDFC was incorporated in 1977 with the primary objective of meeting a social need - that of promoting home ownership by providing long-term finance to households for their housing needs. HDFC was promoted with an initial share capital of Rs. 100 million.

The primary objective of HDFC is to enhance residential housing stock in the country through the provision of housing finance in a systematic and professional manner, and to promote home ownership. Another objective is to increase the flow of resources to the housing sector by integrating the housing finance sector with the overall domestic financial markets.

HDFC's main goals are to a) develop close relationships with individual households, b) maintain its position as the premier housing finance institution in the country, c) transform ideas into viable and creative solutions, d) provide consistently high returns to shareholders, and e) to grow through diversification by leveraging off the existing client base.

HDFC is a professionally managed organisation with a board of directors consisting of eminent persons who represent various fields including finance, taxation, construction and urban policy & development. The board primarily focuses on strategy formulation, policy and control, designed to deliver increasing value to shareholders.

HDFC has a staff strength of 1029, which includes professionals from the fields of finance, law, accountancy, engineering and marketing.

HDFC has 130 offices spread all over the country. This extensive network helps HDFC in providing quality service to its large and extensive client base. In 1996, HDFC established an office in Dubai. HDFC has further enhanced its presence in the Middle East with Service Associates in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. HDFC has also evolved the concept of an "Outreach" programme. An "Outreach" programme is a one or two-day visit, made by HDFC to reach customers in locations where HDFC does not have an office. Currently, HDFC has over 90 outreach locations.

HDFC's loan approvals in FY 03 were Rs.11,732 Crores while disbursements were Rs. 9951 Crores. At the end of March 2003, HDFC's cumulative loan approvals amounted to Rs. 51,867 Crores financing over 23 lac units across India. Cumulative disbursements amounted to Rs.43,520 Crores.

All products except Short Term Bridging Loans are available under Fixed rate & Adjustable rate with Annual/Monthly rest option

Loans to NRI customers are allowed as per norms prescribed by RBI

• Home Loans

• Home Improvement Loans

• Home Extension Loans

• Land Purchase Loans

For detailed terms & conditions forthe different types of loan please refer websiteof HDFC

The Sole objective of HDFC is to give it's customers the best. Keeping this in mind HDFC has devised customised repayment options to Suit every individual.

The objective of SURF is to provide the customer with a repayment schedule, which is linked to his expected growth in income. It also helps a customer get a larger amount of loan as compared to the loan under the normal housing loan. The customer can avail of a higher amount of loan and pay lower EMIs in the initial years. Subsequently, the repayment is accelerated proportionately with the assumed increase in his income.

The EMIs will be increased in stages. For eg: For a 15-year loan, the repayment schedule, divided into 3 tranche would give a step up in the EMI at the end of the 3 rd and 7th year. The EMIs for the first seven years constitute a large part of interest and a nominal sum of the principal portion. For the balance 8 years, the EMIs are stepped up to recover the outstanding principal and interest for the remaining term of the loan. In view of the tax benefits on the interest paid on the housing loans, this product can be used to maximize the tax benefit as it defers the payment of principal.

This product offers a customized solution to suit the needs of customers whose repayment capacity is likely to alter during the term of the loan. The loan is structured in such a way that the EMl is higher during the initial years and subsequently decreases in the latter part proportionate to the reduced income of the customer. For eg: If Husband has 10 years of service left and wife has 15 years to retire then a 15 year loan can be structured such that a higher EMI (serviced out of both the incomes) is paid for first 10 years and a lower EMI (serviced out of only wife's income) is paid for next 5 years.

Balloon Payment is an enhancement tool, which helps in increasing the loan eligibility of the customer without increasing the EMI by assigning securities like National Savings Certificate (NSC), LIC policies etc to HDFC. The present value of the maturity amount of assigned securities is combined with the loan amount to arrive at the enhanced loan eligibility. Under this facility, the EMI is calculated on the net loan amount (i.e. total loan less the present value of the maturity value of the securities).

Under this facility, the customer has an option to increase the EMIs every year in proportion to the increase in his income. For eg. If a customer avails of a loan with repayment period of 15 years and increases his EMIs every year by say 10%, he would repay the loan in 8 years approximately.

The advantages of this facility are as under:

1. Customer repays the loan faster and saves on interest for the remaining term.

2. He retains liquidity, as he need not make lump sum payments thus releasing the funds for alternate investments.

The loan can be serviced through any HDFC offices. eg: Mr A employed in Mumbai applies for a loan in Mumbai office for a property located in Chennai .He subsequently gets transferred to Nasik. In such a case he can pay his EMI's / Repay the loan through HDFC's Nasik office.

HDFC provides the facility of approving the loan even though The property to be purchased may not have been selected/finalised . This helps a customer in planning the purchase of the property . Since the customer is now aware of the funds available to him he can buy a property in keeping with his budget. It makes the entire experience of owning a house hassle free and expeditious. Back to top

HDFC follows a single window concept . Unlike some of the other Housing loan providers who do not provide the legal and technical services and customers are made to get legal and technical approvals from outside agencies , HDFC provides them all inhouse. The process is so seamless that the customer does not even realise that there was some legal and technical process he had undergone. This saves the customer a lot of time and hassle of visiting different people to obtain these clearances and what's more it also saves him money. HDFC's processing and administrative charges cover all these expenses. While some organisations make special offers of "NO processing Fees " the customers need to understand whether they are really getting a free offer.

Buying a house is a single largest investment for any individual and an environment where so many Housing Finance players have mushroomed offering a host of products with multiple options ,it becomes very difficult for the individual to choose the right financier. Moreover the customer also needs advice on the Tittle documents, the property he is buying, the price he is likely to pay , etc. HDFC provides free counselling to its customers because it has the right experience to guide them on these issues.

HDFC offers a wide range of loans to it's customers. One can have more than one loan simultaneously from HDFC. Pending one housing loan the customers can apply for another loan from HDFC , be it for House Purchase/ construction , Home improvement , Home Extension or any other loan . The only condition is that the customer should have a capacity to service all these loans simultaneously.