KARACHI: The Securi­ties and Exchange Commi­ssion of Pakistan (SECP) on Wednesday said it issued licences to three new Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) during FY21, with the aim of revitalising the sector.

The companies include the Pakistan Housing Finance Company Limited, Trellis Housing Finance Company Limited and Asaan Ghar Finance Limited, the SECP said in a statement, adding that the HFCs might start operations during the current year.

A revitalised HFC sector would contribute towards catering to the huge demand of affordable housing finance in the country, the regulator added.

There were no licenced HFCs in existence for the past one decade.

While cognisant of the huge gap in affordable housing finance, the SECP in collaboration with the Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company and the World Bank Group has started a comprehensive awareness campaign to highlight the opportunities for potential new entrants.

The SECP is also guiding prospective investors on available funding mechanism for housing finance companies and assisting them in preparing workable HFC business models.

The SECP also supports the proposal to include the HFCs in government’s Markup Subsidy Scheme for housing finance.

Meanwhile, former chairman of the Association of Builders and Developers Hassan Bakhshi welcomed the SECP’s step of allowing more companies in HFC segment.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2021