With housing complexes and apartments cropping up at every nook and corner of most Indian cities, have you ever wondered how many Indians avail of housing loans? Your query would be much tougher to answer than you imagined. This is because, In India, there are no figures from the government agencies ? Reserve Bank of India (RBI) included? about how many Indians get housing loans, especially in urban areas.

The regulator for the sector, National Housing Bank (NHB), too, has data only on the quantum of loans disbursed by housing finance companies (HFCs), divided by the loan ticket. And that data is seven years old. So, if one attempts to figure out, say, how many Indian households have taken loans from banks or HFCs, the answer would be pure guess work. According to RBI data, in 2010-11, the total housing loan disbursed by the banking sector was R3,46,110 crore, of which priority housing accounted for R2,30,686 crore. Of the latter, the Indira Awas Yojana ? a government of India social welfare programme to provide housing for the rural poor ? accounted for less than R10,000 crore. Deducting the sum ? as one can safely assume a ticket size of R20 lakh even under the priority sector ? the total number of beneficiaries stands at just around 11,00,000.

The disbursement for higher loan amounts, as per the RBI data for the same period, was R1,15,424 crore and, here, assuming a minimum ticket size of R25 lakh, it comes to about 4,61,700 individuals. Since NHB disbursals are far lower, going by its 2005-06 estimates, the total number of people availing housing loans per year from both banks and housing finance companies would be less than 2.1 million in a year. There are roughly 60 million urban households in the country; This means, just 3.3% of them get a housing loan every year.

According to the National Sample Survey (NSS), while there are around 240 million households in the country, the housing stock is short by at least 22 million. The ministry of housing & urban poverty alleviation puts the number even higher at 24.71 million (2007-08).

These millions have no sort of home at all, and they are way below the housing market. Above them are populations that are cramped into horribly small places.

The 65th round of NSS (2008-2009) reveals that less than 13% of the urban population had more than 20 sqm floor space. The per capita availability is as low as 9.45 sqm. The above data show just how small a portion of the urban housing market is taken care of by the financial sector. In other words, the demand for housing loans is far more than the supply of finance. Why? First, of the two regulators, the RBI is primarily concerned with keeping the banking system solvent. Issues, such as development of the housing sector, come way down on its priority list. So, the RBI does not push the banks to go out and give housing loans.

The other regulator is the NHB. Of the 44 housing finance companies that come under its purview, nearly 70% of the business comes from HDFC, with LIC Housing Finance providing another 17%. The remaining 42 companies account for just 13% of the business.

The asymmetric nature of the business tilts the housing market heavily in the favour of the suppliers. As a result, affordable housing ? one which combines low interest rates and low ticket size ? is yet to pick up. The only segment where it works is where the government steps in to provide subsidy.

NHB data show that, in 2005-06, loans of under R1 lakh ? with no government support ? from all HFCs accounted for just R91 crore. The number of families helped was 2.63 lakh (ticket size of R 1 lakh or less), where, typically, banks do not enter unless supported by the government. In the same year, the finance ministry spent R2,497 crore towards the Indira Awas Yojana, where it underwrites the exposure of the financial institution. The picture changes rapidly for loans as the ticket size expands.

Experts contend the housing market in India is pretty much in its infancy. As of now, it appears to be nobody’s responsibility? accounting as it does for just 4.44% of India’s annual GDP. The figure for the US is over 18%.