Industry experts say this will facilitate clear titles, transparency and delivery Even though there is very little progress on creating affordable housing, the sector is likely to witness a new generation of serious developers who will give priority to clear titles, transparency and delivery, industry experts believe. Paranjape Schemes chairman Shrikant Paranjape said, “Despite various initiatives taken by the government, the affordable housing sector has not gained momentum which is required to fulfil the Modi government’s ambitious programme of ‘housing for all’ by 2022. However, we will see some kind of activity in the sector going forward with a new generation of developers entering the space.” He said the scope in the affordable housing space was immense as there had been a shift in demand from big ticket size purchases by investors to end-use customers, who were almost 85 per cent of the home aspirants. Rajesh Krishnan, chief executive officer of private equity player Brick Eagle, said the sector would see very serious developers who wanted to focus on delivery. “We are seeing a shift in the type of developers now entering the space. These are serious players who want to focus on delivering projects in a transparent manner. These are the ones who will adopt new technology for executing projects in a more professional way and on time,” he said. Mr Krishnan, however, said these players were not entering the market due to lack of funding options. He added, “There is rising interest from few private equity players to support developers who are taking up affordable housing projects as this space is going to the big thing going forward, mainly due to the initiatives taken by the government to promote housing for all. “Brick Eagle’s strategy is to partner with such small developers who want to create mass housing stock. We provide funds and market their projects as creating a brand for these small developers is a challenge.” PwC executive director Shashank Jain said though funding would be a challenge in the affordable housing segment for a few more quarters till there was clarity on certain policy issues, structured debt and equity would be made available. “Residential segment is one which will witness a boom in the years to come as against the retail and commercial sectors. Apart from a few established players, we will see a number of new entrants in the affordable housing segment as they will have accessibility to funds. Moreover, these developers will be the ones who would not like to take risks of obtaining clearances, which results in cost escalation and delay in execution. They will instead look at joint development agreements where the risk is low and requires less capital,” Mr Jain added. — PTI Apart from a few established players, a number of new entrants are likely to enter the sector