There are talks on the Street about the affordable housing sector getting another round of push in the current budget. It is not the first time in the last ten years that it will be happening. It has happened in the past also. But there are some key differences between when it happened earlier and today's situation. The biggest being the fact that a regulatory tightening and a cleanup has taken place in the housing finance sector. The books of HFCs are in a much better condition, right from asset liability standpoint and also in terms of sustainability of growth. Because the memories from the past scams and troubles are still haunting the sector, there is bias against them, but probably it is time to look at them afresh, given the fact that housing is one of the most important sectors of the economy and housing finance companies form an important part of this ecosystem.
